Sheng Li Superstar showed that his talents are not just limited to the all weather surface with a brilliant all the way win in Saturdays Class 1 & 2 over 1200 metres on the turf.

Ridden by Peter Ho, Sheng Li Superstar exploded out of the gates to lead easily on the bridle soon after the start; despite being taken on by both Fortune Treasure and Emperor King from the six hundred, Ho remained cool with a lap full of horse under him and only let the son of Harbour Watch (Ire) slip at the two hundred to pinch a nice break on his rivals. Race favorites Pearl Green (Oscar Chavez) and Mister Kaopu (Luis Corrales) tried gamely to run him down but Sheng Li Superstar kept up a strong gallop right to the line.

Pearl Green did well to run second over the 1200 metres and will no doubt be aimed at the Group 1 Star Of The Sand Stakes over 1600 metres on July 27; while course specialist Mister Kaopu an eight times winner at the distance held on well for third.

Sheng Li Superstar had previously won three races out of his five runs on the sand in the enclave including a runaway six and a half length win over 1350 metres in a sizzling 1.20.9; however after his debut run on the turf in Macau seen him finish a tiring seventh beaten nearly four lengths, it appeared as if the sand was going to be his niche. A nice third behind the flying Fasuba followed at his next run on the all weather before Tony Fung freshened the four year old for Saturdays race.

On a track not riding fast on the day Sheng Li Superstar’s time of 1.09.0 was full of merit.

A cast of from the Emirates Racing Empire in Australia gave his owner Mr. Kwok Chun Man a quick return in winning the 0 to 55 rated Maiden Handicap on Friday night’s mixed turf and sand card.

Gem Glory who formerly raced in Australia as I Am Zain, led throughout to win the 1200 metre contest and managed to run over half a second quicker then the next event the Class 2 & 3 over the same distance.

Gem Glory was originally prepared by Team Hawkes in Sydney and while his last run in Australia was a close third to Matowi at Canterbury, it was his fourth place under Dwayne Dunn in a A$100,000 Two Year Old race at Flemington that caught the eye when he was only beaten one a half lengths. The winner of that race Good ‘n’Fast went straight on to win the Listed Gibson Carmichael a fortnight after again at Flemington.

It’s solid form for a Macau Maiden and those in the know took full advantage of it on Friday night, with the three year old jumping away at $1.70 after opening at $40.00 in early betting.

Gem Glory was purchased by trainer Danny Wong for Mr. Kwok and is an impressive looking son of I Am Invincible (Aus), out of the Al Maher mare Zyoon who herself was a granddaughter of Rolls (USA) the dam of Golden Slipper winner Flying Spur. The gelding still looked a bit of the new side on Friday night and will come on plenty for the win.

Geoff Allendorf’s Highspot is never going to excel to any great heights on the racetrack however; the son of Manhattan Rain (Aus) gets full marks for honesty and seldom runs around without collecting a prize money cheque for his owner Mr. Robert Lau.

The seven year old won his fourth race in the enclave under Frenchman J B Hamel when he powered home from the back of the field to take out the Class 4 & 5 over 1500 metres on Saturday afternoon.

Whilst it was only win number four, the gelding has managed another 20 placed efforts and picked up close to $1.2 million HKD in prize money along he way. The other pleasing thing for connections in Saturdays win was the $241.00 on offer. It seems the gelding rarely goes around under double figures despite his consistency.

Stephane Ladjadj was another French rider in the winner’s circle over the weekend with double for trainer Peter Leyshan.

Ladjadj made the best of his wide gate and a tough run in transit by letting Broadus balance up and travel on the bridle in the run albeit wide, before bursting down the outside to win handsomely on the line in the Class 5 & 6 over 1350 metres.

On Saturday the Frenchman gave a faultless front running display Peter Leyshan’s New Zealand import Georgian Ease to win the Class 3 & 4 over 1500 metres. Ladjadj had the son of Super Easy (NZ) bowling along in front with his head on his chest until the corner before darting away at the top of the straight, and had enough in reserve to hold off One Belt One Road (Ruan Maia) to win by a length on the line.