Marwing Lands Ba Ba Ride In Dubai
04-Mar-2010 |
 Hong Kong Gold Cup winner Collection will miss the world's richest race at the Dubai World Cup meeting this month, but Weichong Marwing will be there as yet another change of jockey for Dubai Duty Free-bound Good Ba Ba.
Englishman Brett Doyle, who took over on Good Ba Ba from sacked Olivier Doleuze to finish fourth in the Gold Cup on Sunday, has now been sacked in his turn from the horse in favour of South African Marwing.
Trainer Derek Cruz confirmed Marwing had been booked at the behest of owner John Yuen Se-kit, but said yesterday regular rider Doyle would still partner the trainer's other Dubai entrant, Joy And Fun.
"Brett's been riding Joy And Fun for a while and he's done a good job on him, but the owner of Good Ba Ba wanted a change of jockey," Cruz said.
"We discussed a few different riders, but Mr Yuen liked Marwing and he wanted to give him a chance on the horse. And Weichong has had a lot of experience riding in Dubai when he was riding for Mike De Kock."
Marwing's big wins in Dubai include the Duty Free, which he took out with the De Kock-trained Right Approach in 2004.
But the Hong Kong team for the Meydan showpiece meeting has been whittled down to three, with John Moore canning any possibility of a trip for Collection.
"I've told the syndicate I don't believe we should be holding on till the last minute before we know if the horse even has an invitation to run," Moore said.
"Collection is one horse I would have thought they would want to run over there. A horse of his calibre should be a frontline selection, but apparently that isn't the case so we'll pull the plug on the idea and turn our attention back to the QE II Cup."
The situation has some resonance with Moore as Dubai authorities put him in a similar position with Viva Pataca three years ago. He refused to wait for an invitation to the Sheema Classic won by Vengeance Of Rain, stayed home and subsequently trounced Vengeance Of Rain twice at Sha Tin.
Hong Kong will have a shot at four different international races on World Cup weekend, with confirmation that Ricky Yiu Poon-fai will campaign both of his sprinters, Sacred Kingdom and Ultra Fantasy, in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in Nagoya, Japan.
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