Panamanian jockey Luis Jurado continued his great run of form with a winning treble at Taipa over the weekend.
Jurado kicked home the rejuvenated Golden Tic Tic on Friday night's sand card for trainer Tommy Tse to give the four year old back to back wins in the Class 5 over 1350 metres.
Golden Tic Tic returned to the winners list on February 22 when he won over the same distance at huge odds with Jurado in the saddle and the gelding had trained on nicely since then, but was again neglected by most punters to pay $131.00 for the win.
Nowadays Tommy Tse operates with a smaller team of horses and has only had 78 runners for the season, but still maintains a healthy win and place percentage with 8 winners and 16 placings for the season.
Jurado has been having a ball in recent weeks with the Sunshine horses raced by owner Cheng Ting Kong and the partnership was again successful on Saturday's turf program with another double.
Sunshine Kingdom a son of Darci Brahma was the first of their winners when he literally jumped out of the ground to down Sunshine Spirit the Class 4 & 5 over 1200 metres.
It was ten out of ten ride by Jurado who snagged the three year gelding back out of gate 12 to make a beeline for the rail. With a very hot pace up front Jurado was content to bide his time out the back and was still spotting the leaders a good ten lengths coming to the corner before powering through the field over the final stages for an impressive win.
Sunshine Kingdom is prepared by the combined stable of Y Y Choy and Y T Lam whilst the runner up Sunshine Spirit who is also raced by Cheng Ting Kong is trained by Patrick Lee.
Smart youngster Sunshine Region made it a double for Jurado, Cheng and the Y Y Choy – Y T Lam operation when he overcame a tough run from gate 10 to prove too strong for his rivals in the last of the day the Class 3 over 1200 metres.
The win made it two out of two for the son of One Cool Cat (USA) who won the second series of the Listed Lisboa Juvenile on March 3rd.
From the Redoute’s Choice mare Eyes Light Up, Sunshine Region is destined for better things and looks to have the final leg of the Lisboa Series to be held on Derby day April 21 at his mercy.
* FILIPINO rider Martin Cangas, enjoying a great first season as a fully fledged jockey, combined with the Gary Moore yard for a winning double on Friday night.
Best Pioneer was the first winner for the pair when he found the line too well for Macau Stand in the Class 3 over 1600 metres on the sand.
Marunhangtung gave the duo their double when he flew late to beat Power Minardi in the Class 3 & 4 over 1050 metres.
A son of Elusive City, Marunhangtung’s last win was over 1600 metres back in November and most people were of the opinion that the 1050 metres was a bit short for the six year old gelding. Not so the Moore camp who had freshened the gelding up for Friday nights effort with good support for him late to close off at 6/1.
The win gave Martin Cangas 21 winners for the season and he currently holds down third spot behind Manoel Nunes (38) and Louis Corrales (28) on the jockeys’ table.
A product of the Macau Jockey Club Apprentice School, Cangas was initially indentured to Gary Moore for a short while before transferring to the Geoff Allendorf stable.
Allendorf a former three time Champion jockey in Macau bought out the best in the young rider and after three seasons as a successful apprentice Cangas has developed into a very capable jockey.
Hardworking jockey Breinell Yamzon picked up a much deserved win on Friday nights card with Kim Cheong’s Fortune Glory in the Class 5 & 6 over 1050 metres.
Yamzon, who also hails from Manila in the Philippines is another product of the Macau Jockey Club and is one of the busiest workers at the track in the morning.
Whilst not always getting the opportunities he deserves, Yamzon does the job as well as anyone with the right horse under him.
Comeback jockey Tony Lei Kin Meng was another in the winners circle on Saturday when he produced a neat front running ride on the K C Chong trained Elegance Energy at odds of 70/1 in the Class 3 & 4 over 1500 metres.
It was the second winner for the young rider since he returned to the saddle after more then a year off with injuries suffered in a race fall.
