"VIVA" Hong Kong Sunday.

Viva Pataca chases fourth C&C Cup win

Preview: Hong Kong, Sunday 9.05am BST

Sha Tin: Champions & Chater Cup (Group 1) 1m4f, turf, 4yo+

ALREADY the highest stakes earner in Hong Kong with over £7 million banked, Viva Pataca (John Moore/Darren Beadman) bids for another slice of history this Sunday when he bids to land his fourth victory in the Standard Chartered-sponsored Champions & Chater Cup.

The feat would equal the achievement by River Verdon who won a quartet of ‘stayers' championships during the 1990s.

This will be Viva Pataca's fifth run in the 2,400-metre event, the third and final leg of the local Triple Crown where his sole reverse arrived two years ago when he was edged out by Packing Winner, one of his six rivals in this weekend's £700,000 contest.

Trainer John Moore described Viva Pataca as being in top form since his victory in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup last month.

"I'm expecting him to win - he will certainly be the one to beat," he predicted.

Moore will not be present at Sha Tin to witness the race, opting instead to travel to the Kingsclere stables of Andrew Balding where his Happy Zero is being preparing for an assault on the Golden Jubilee Stakes next month.

Mr Medici (Peter Ho/Gerald Mosse), stable companion to Packing Winner (Mark du Plessis), will seek to bounce back from perhaps his first ever disappointing run locally.

Last time out he was only ninth in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup at this course and distance but although he was over seven lengths behind Fat Choy Ichiban and King Dancer, he meets both on better terms in this level weights event.

Super Satin and Super Pistachio (ex-Westphalia), first and second in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby in March, step up to the 2,400 metres for the first time but neither is expected to struggle at the distance.

Super Satin was a neck third to Viva Pataca and a nose shy of Lizard's Desire in the QEII Cup.

"He is still holding his form very well after a tough season and I don't foresee any issues with the trip," said trainer Caspar Fownes.

"Lizard's Desire came out afterwards and won in Singapore - so we know how good the form is."

Mr Medici floors Pataca at rain-hit Sha Tin
By james reed 11:28AM 30 MAY 2010

Sha Tin: Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (HK Group 1) 1m4f, 3yo+

MR MEDICI (Peter Ho/Gerald Mosse),virtually a byword for consistency in Hong Kong racing over the past two seasons, revelled in extremely testing conditions to record his maiden Group 1 success in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup on Sunday.


Local idol Viva Pataca, the 11-10 favourite, had every chance to attain his fourth success in the final leg of the local Triple Crown, but was found wanting inside the last two furlongs.


He could finish only third, two and a half lengths behind the winner, with Hong Kong Derby runner-up Super Pistachio (the former Westphalia) splitting the pair.

Super Satin, this season's Derby hero, did not handle the very soft ground was eased down at tail of the field.

Winning trainer Peter Ho, who also won this £700,000 feature with Packing Winner in 2008, had summoned Gerald Mosse from Paris expressly for this mission and must have been content from his vantage point in the grandstand as the Frenchman oozed confidence on the Irish import at the top of the straight.

The five-year-old son of Medicean, formerly trained by Kevin Prendergast, was lightest on his feet in the run to the line even if the state of the ground and very steady pace meant the overall time was a barely credible 11 seconds outside standard.

Mr Medici started at 8-1 perhaps owing to his first slightly sub-par performance against local opposition at this course and distance just three weeks earlier in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup, when he was apprentice ridden.

Onthis occasion, however, Mosse rediscovered his knack in big races and may just have bowed out on a high in front of his Hong Kong fans.

The 43-year-old has previously indicated that he will announce his retirement from the saddle at the end of the current European season with a view to becoming a trainer.

Rain curtails programme

Outside of Mr Medici's success, the day will be best remembered for the abandonment of the programme with two races still to run.

Over 70 millimetres of rain lashed Sha Tin shortly after the card commenced and with surface water all over the track, safety concerns among jockeys left the stewards with no option other than to call a halt to proceedings.

The deluge would not have dampened Ricky Yiu's enthusiasm with the trainer sending out three winners from four runners: Papas (Jacky Tong), Bet On Me (Olivier Doleuze) and Matsukaze (Ben So). In so doing, Yiu passed the 400-career win barrier since taking out his licence in 1995.

Earlier on apprentice So, back after a lengthy suspension, also won the Class 5 dash on the dirt under King's Choice for his indentured trainer Ho.

Jockeys Douglas Whyte and Brett Prebble shared one win apiece but it was Whyte's success on Seek N' Destroy that really caught the eye.

Owned by former HKJC chairman Ronald Arculli, the Exceed And Excel gelding was a useful handicapper for Barry Hills last year.

But making just his second start in Hong Kong for the John Size yard, he relished the wet conditions won by a very easy two lengths and seems destined to add to the tally before too long.

When they say "testing conditions" can u imagine us running in SA?

WOW!!!!!!!

Our boys would have been back at home under the snuggies watching reruns of Wielie Walie by now!!!