A few days ago in Hong Kong, a man known in this part of the world as the best rider in the game, made it 8 wins from 8 rides. Joao Moreira, one hell of a jockey. Easy Touch. Blue, yellow cap. Dashing Dart in Yellow. Mr Stunning in red. Victor Emperor in red any yellow checks. Cool And Neat in Purple. Beat The Clock, maroon, blue sleeves. Mighty Maverick, green and yellow. Prawn Baba in white and purple.
Seen this over the weekend Cyc. Amazing stuff. He's now won 9 from his last 11 rides having just ridden Show Mission to win at Happy Valley. And very happy he must be. Has the 8 timer ever been down before? I know Dettori did the 7 at Ascot previously. Moreira is definitely among the elite guys riding around the globe currently. Often does it on unfancied runners too.
From what I can find, a rider called Albert Adams won 9 on the trot in 1930 in the USA. That was matched by another American Tony Black, who got his 9 over three race meetings in July of 1993. Maybe that's been beaten elsewhere, but I'll leave it to others to hunt that down. P.S. Just found another. American Travis Dunkelburger hit 9 as well. Seems he might have done it over 6 meetings. In his tenth race, he finished second on an odds on favourite. Looks like it might have been in 2009.
Dunkelburger eh? Wasn't he the good basketball player with Mexican parentage who worked part time at McDonald's during his college days ??? All fair achievements in the saddle nonetheless. Wonder did anyone have them in an accumulator...
Then there's the other end of the scale. 44 year old Anthony Knott finally cracks a winner after 28 years. Wincanton 2008, aboard Wise Men Say, he finally got the job done. Straight back, long in the irons and full of fun. A wonderful story. He's in the maroon, yellow bands and blue sleeves. He's a local, so all and sundry knew of his long wait and were there in force to cheer him on. Life isn't all about Gold Cups and Derbies, sometimes the smallest of victories can be just as sweet. They won't allow the clip to play, so just hit Youtube and type in Anthony Knott Wincanton win. It's amazing.
