While waiting for judges to separate stablemates Suisse D'Or and Golden Treasure after the Ventris Handicap (1,800m), trainer Andreas Schutz admitted he hoped the less fancied of the duo had held on.
Suisse D'Or prevailed by the barest of margins at 16-1, beating the favourite in a Class Four on the dirt and delivering a desperate Greg Cheyne his first winner for the term.
But Cheyne's run of outs was nothing compared to the horse's owner Albert Hausammann, who had to wait 23 starts for Suisse D'Or's maiden victory and hadn't tasted success in Hong Kong for more than six years.
Hausammann's last winner was in March 2005 with Esprit D'Or, also on the dirt. Hence the German's preference for his outsider.
'He has been waiting for a long time for this winner,' Schutz said. 'Not only with horse but he has been waiting six years and he's had some unlucky seconds, not only for me, but for other trainers. To come back and win for him was quite nice. Plus the fact he is Swiss means we can celebrate in German.'
'It wouldn't have been too bad if it was a dead heat though, it could have been two winners for me then,' Schutz added.
