Last season's champion apprentice Charles Perkins, hoping this Chinese New Year brings better fortune then last year, certainly got off to a great start kicking home a double on Saturday’s card at Taipa.
Perkins was the leading junior rider last season with 28 wins which he managed after riding for only five months of the racing year.
A fall in May saw him sidelined and further complications from lower back injuries incurred in that incident had him spend more time on the ground then on top of a horse for the past year.
A recent fall on January 26 caused him more grief and Saturday was his first day back in the saddle.
Perkins won the first race of the New Year in a late pickup ride on the Alan Tam trained Allen’s Victory who gained a run with the scratching of Sunshine Wyvern.
Allen’s Victory showed good speed off gate three and went right on with things over the final two hundred metres to beat Chinese Swifthorse (Frankie Choi), with Idea Of The Good (Peter Ho) in third.
In total contrast Perkins bought his second winner Turquoise Dane from the tail of the field with powerful finish to win the Lai See Handicap over 1950 metres.
The French born apprentice has won 9 races from 35 rides since his return to the saddle and has put together an amazing strike rate of 26% winning and a 46% place rate, clearly the best in the enclave.
Louis Corrales is next best on a 15% win strike and a place rate of 30%.
The days other feature the IACM Lunar New Year Trophy over 1500 metres was won in easy fashion by the very smart Wonder Mossman.
Jumping at almost money back Wonder Mossman was never in doubt under jockey Peter Ho and traveled sweetly in the race before racing away untouched to bolt in
Wonder Mossman is a former Australian galloper who was raced there by Magic Millions supremo Gerry Harvey under the name of Racing Eight, winning a three year old maiden at Warwick Farm and placing on four other occasions from only six starts before being exported to Macau.
The four year old has matured into a serious racehorse and is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Four Year Old Classics this season.
