It was vintage Basil Marcus yesterday at Sha Tin as he took out a neat double with a horse just learning to race and another who finally learned to win.
Marcus is licensed to March 17 and has indicated that he will finish his career when he finishes this time in Hong Kong, though his fans must wonder why when he is still riding in such invariably good form.
Marcus has been a master in the griffin races during more than a decade riding in Hong Kong, many of them for David Hayes, and the old firm was at it again when Good Win led throughout to win the opening event over 1,200 metres yesterday.
Marcus took control of the race from the start and never looked like being headed, as victory by the son of Dubai Creek and So Surprising brought back a flood of memories for the trainer.
'I officially took over the training at Lindsay Park from my father on August 1, 1990, the first day of the new Australian season,' Hayes said. 'And the first race run that day was at 12.01pm at a track called Gawler outside Adelaide and it was won by So Surprising, who also happened to be my first runner as a trainer.'
The win came as no surprise, with stable followers backing the mare down from 4-1 to 12-10 favourite before she bolted in her debut to win by five lengths.
'We had planned it for ages, so it was nice to see it come off but I guess it didn't take a lot of training to win with her really,' Hayes said.