11 years: Well worth the wait for Moore

John Moore had waited 11 years to find his second Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby winner as Viva Pataca added another rich layer to an already golden season for the trainer yesterday - and it could all have been turned upside down in a split second at the top of the straight.

After Viva Pataca had scored comfortably to join Makarpura Star (1995) as Moore's Derby heroes, the trainer talked about the pressures in getting the former English gelding successfully to the winner's stall.

'I'm over the moon. We've had butterflies in our stomachs in the lead-up to this,' Moore said, as much relieved as excited. 'From the moment he was purchased, Viva Pataca has been aimed at winning the Derby, and there is a lot of pressure to deliver on that promise. Mr Ho spent a lot of money on the horse, we thought he was the right horse - and I have to thank Alastair Donald and Kern Lillington Bloodstock, who are my agents in Britain, for finding him.

'He was the right breed, the Marju horses do so well in this Hong Kong environment while so many other Northern Hemisphere horses have trouble acclimatising - but today he's done everything we had always hoped and won the Derby and now we can just enjoy it.'

But the story could so easily have had another ending, with only the combined nerve and sharp reflexes of Viva Pataca and jockey Christophe Soumillon avoiding trouble that could have ended the favourite's whole Derby plan at the 400m.

Stewards later suspended Brett Prebble (Happee Owner) for two meetings and fined him an additional $80,000 for the interference caused behind him to Great Achievement as Prebble attempted to shift in and shut the gate on Viva Pataca.

For two strides Viva Pataca was in a sandwich between Happee Owner and Very Fit which could have chopped him out of the race, but the gelding showed real desire and tenacity to shrug off the mishap and go through with his finishing burst to put the race away.