Long wait is over: Chinook and Freebird get it right this time

It's amazing they both won on the same night like that, says Derek Cruz

Every dog has his day, or night, and two of Hong Kong racing's most enduring losers managed not only to enjoy their night in the spotlight on the same card at Happy Valley but Chinook and Freebird did it in back to back races.

The David Ferraris-trained Chinook and the Derek Cruz-trained Freebird, had more than one thing in common as they finally broke their maiden status, with South African jockey Anthony Delpech aboard each of them as they led throughout to finally experience a win.

For Chinook, it had been 46 starts since his Hong Kong debut on International Races day 2002 under retired trainer Brian Kan Ping-chee, when the gelding finished last in a Premier Class race to begin a downward spiral which would have seen him eligible for Class Five in one or two more unplaced runs.

'I thought he might have had a job from the wide gate but he got over OK,' said Ferraris. 'His runs have been quite good up on the pace lately so the plan was to go forward and hope for the best with the light weight.'

When Delpech produced a similar display on Freebird 30 minutes later, trainer Derek Cruz was ecstatic - or maybe simply didn't believe that, after 48 starts including seven seconds and eight thirds, it could happen - when Freebird defied the late finish of Danehill Warrior in the seventh.