Nine-year-old warhorse Viva Pataca is a live hope of claiming an historic third win in tomorrow's QEII Cup, jockey Darren Beadman says.
Beadman is hoping to claim his second international Group One in a week after winning the BMW Champions Mile on Xtension last Monday and firmly believes trainer John Moore has the defending champion primed to run at his best.
He points to Viva Pataca's record of two QEII Cup wins and two placings from five starts in the race as the reason Macau tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun's runner still has the ability to nail a treble in an event he first won in 2007.
'It's probably Viva's last crack at a big one, although it wouldn't surprise me if he won again and we are here talking about him next year,' Beadman said with a laugh.
'He's been ultra-consistent in this race and I am a believer that horses, particularly ones that race in Hong Kong over a long period, get in a real routine over the season. Viva runs in the same races year in, year out, and as we know, he has peaked on QEII Cup day more than once.'
As Hong Kong's record prize-money winner with more than HK$81 million in the bank, Viva Pataca has little left to prove to anyone, but Beadman has unfinished business in the QEII Cup on the champion stayer, as the pair have finished in the minor placings on both occasions they have combined in the race.
