Cheers Brothers added himself to New Zealand Bloodstock’s growing honour role of Derby winners when taking out the $2.3m Macau Derby (1800m) on Sunday.
The son of Deep Field was purchased out of Kilgravin Lodge’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale by trainer Glenn Old and his brother Mark for $150,000.
He did his early education under Glenn Old and was sold to Macau after several trial placings.
Old was impressed with the gelding from the outset, but said he took a while to mature.
“He was a big, scopey Deep Field. We tried to win a trial here with him but he only ran seconds and thirds,” Old said.
“He was a slow maturer so we never got the big Hong Kong money for him but I sold him to one of my good contacts in Macau.
“He is pretty smart up over distance. His run in the Derby was unbelievable, he nearly fell at the top of the straight, it was a huge run.”
Raced by TV personality Eric Tsang Chi Wai, Cheers Brothers is trained by Joe Lau and was ridden to Sunday’s Derby triumph by Eric Cheung.
Cheers Brothers has now won six of his 11 starts and nearly $2 million in prizemoney.
Old said he gets a lot of enjoyment from seeing his former stable runners excel internationally.
“We get a lot of pleasure seeing them win overseas, we keep close contacts with them all, so it is very important that they win, wherever they go,” Old said.
Heading into the new season, Old is being kept busy with a couple of dozen horses in work, much of those trade horses, which has been a big part of his business over the years.
“We are pretty busy, I have got about 25 at the moment,” he said. “Most of them are trade horses, we have had a huge year selling again. We have sold a lot of horses to Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau.
“I have got five or six nice racehorses that I am preparing to race in New Zealand this year. I am very hopeful to find a good one there.
“I have got a couple of maideners, Triple Money and Candycane. that should win at short notice. Both have been placed from limited starts.
“I have got four or five nice unraced horses that will race here through the summer. I have syndicated three or four out so we will have some fun on the racetrack hopefully.”
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