Viva Pataca to the Breeders Cup!

[my miss storm cat]

Now that the trip to Australia is off (for VP and his buddy Viva Macau), Dr. Ho gave the okay..... VP will (hopefully) come for the BC Turf.

First ever runner from HK. Yea!!!

A chance that Able One will come for the Mile.....

"Sometimes there IS God." ~ Truman Capote

[my miss storm cat]

From SCMP.....

Monday, September 3, 2007

Moore sets up Pataca for Breeders' Cup tilt

ALAN AITKEN


Viva Pataca is set to become Hong Kong's first Breeders' Cup runner next month after trainer John Moore received the go-ahead for a trip to the United States late yesterday from the horse's owner, casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun.
"I've spoken to Dr Ho and he has left it in my hands - if I believe that it's the right thing for the horse then the trip has his approval," Moore said last night.

Moore last week aborted a planned assault on Australia's Cox Plate for the multiple Group One winner in the wake of the equine influenza outbreak that has crippled racing in large parts of that country.

But Moore has now retargeted the five-year-old for the US$3 million John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf (2,400m) run at Monmouth Park, New Jersey, on the same day as the Cox Plate.

The mission will hand both Moore and Viva Pataca their sternest challenges yet, with the ultra-tight racetrack and a difficult preparation schedule.

"Viva Pataca will run here first-up in the National Day Cup on October 1, then my plan is to leave Hong Kong with him on October 20 and I'm speaking to International Racehorse Transport about a direct flight into New York," Moore said. "He will only have the one lead-up race over 1,400m because really that is all the Hong Kong programming allows me - we don't have any other options. The idea is to go there, race and be back in Hong Kong with a turnaround of 10 days, which will give him a good enough break between that trip and the international races here on December 9."

Monmouth Park has a 1,600m main dirt track but the turf course is inside it and measures just 1,400m around - very similar to the dimensions of Happy Valley but in a more conventional oval shape. "I haven't been to Monmouth Park but yes I believe it is quite tight," Moore said.

[NoChanceToDance]

Hong Kong to New Jersey

That is some gamble from connections, i could understand if the BC was in CA this year, but this is a very long journey for a horse, and they are saying they won't to do it in the shortest space of time possible????

From that article posted it sounds like he is more intent on winning the race when they get back to Hong Kong rather than winning the BC turf itself.

Seems very strange to me.

Last minute decisions don't often go to plan.

Good luck to Comic Strip though i hope that really long flight has no ill affects for him.

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by NoChanceToDance

Hong Kong to New Jersey

That is some gamble from connections, i could understand if the BC was in CA this year, but this is a very long journey for a horse, and they are saying they won't to do it in the shortest space of time possible????

From that article posted it sounds like he is more intent on winning the race when they get back to Hong Kong rather than winning the BC turf itself.

Seems very strange to me.

Last minute decisions don't often go to plan.

Good luck to Comic Strip though i hope that really long flight has no ill affects for him.

I think that's right.....

Have you heard the Dr. Ho stories? They're priceless.

[my miss storm cat]

There went that..... Viva Pataca is NOT coming as per an email from a HK trainer.

[my miss storm cat]

South China Morning Post.....


Pataca seems unable to catch a plane anywhere


ON THE RAILS With, ALAN AITKEN

The world is starting to look like Viva Pataca's bad oyster, with the abandonment now of the horse's tilt at the John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf in the US next month.
First there was the delay in selection that forced trainer John Moore to bypass a start at the Dubai World Cup meeting, only to see the horse's arch rival Vengeance Of Rain take the world's joint-richest turf race - the Sheema Classic.

Then there were the equine influenza uncertainties in Australia, which halted the star stayer's Cox Plate campaign in Melbourne, before Moore came up with the Breeders' Cup as an option to show the outstanding galloper's worth on the world stage in coming months.

The only problem is that the Breeders' Cup this year is to be staged - for the first time in its history - in the state of New Jersey, and owner Stanley Ho Hung-sun has now withdrawn his consent to participate.

While Moore has preferred not to comment on the reasons behind the Macau casino tycoon's change of heart and Ho's office will only confirm that the billionaire has denied permission for the trip, one can only suspect that it has to do with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Ho's daughter, Pansy, has a 50-50 partnership with MGM Mirage in a major casino development in Macau.

Under the laws in the United States, gaming authorities take it upon themselves to make probity judgments on relationships between US casino companies and other entities, even if those relationships occur outside the United States.

While the relationship between MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho's organisation has been approved recently by casino authorities in other American states, it has yet to be approved by New Jersey, where MGM Mirage falls under the aegis of the NJCCC as it has a casino in Atlantic City.

However, the business end of things turns out, for Viva Pataca it's back to Plan C and to contesting the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races - while campaigns for further overseas glory will have to wait for another day ... yet again.