Nunes to ride in Macau on Gold Cup Day

Champion jockey Manoel Nunes will ride on Gold Cup day in Macau this Saturday, 26 August.

The Brazilian ace has been booked to ride the Joe Lau-trained eight-year-old Sacred Magnate in the feature event. Sacred Magnate finished runner-up in the 2022 Macau Gold Cup (1800m), missing by a neck on the wire behind Star Of Yiu Cheung, who made all in the running under Japanese jockey S.Nakano.

Star Of Yiu Cheung returns to defend his crown on Saturday. However, unlike last year when he was trained by Wayne Smith, he will now be part of Lau’s five-horse assault in this year’s edition.

Nunes, a six-time champion jockey in Macau, has been allocated just two rides throughout the five-race card. Achieving the Triple Crown in both Brazil and Macau in 2010 on Luen Yat Forever, Nunes boasts three Macau Derby victories.

Another familiar Brazilian name on the riding roster is Ruan Maia, who recently departed from Hong Kong racing and had plans to ride in Singapore before the announcement of the race closures.

Maia is booked to ride the W K Lam-trained five-year-old Sheng Tong Viva in the Gold Cup.

Maia, a well-known figure in Macau, relocated there in 2016 and clinched the Champion Jockey title twice, in 2017/18 and again in 2018/19. During this period, he secured victories in both the Macau Gold Cup and the Chairman’s Challenge Cup.

Author: iRace