 Brilliant Melbourne jockey Patrick Payne will return
to the country he took by storm during two riding stints when he rides a former Victorian
galloper in next month's Macau Derby.Payne, a
championship winning jockey in Macau for the 1998/99 season with 106 winners, will ride a
former Mick Price trained gelding in one of the country's feature events.
Easy Punch, who was known in Australia as Dollfuss, will be
Payne's mount in the Derby.
Dollfuss won three straight races at Ballarat, Geelong and
Sandown before being beaten in a photo finish in Melbourne when in the Price camp. The
gelding, a winner in Macau three starts back is now trained by the brilliant Mick Kent.
Payne said he was looking forward to returning to Macau in an
attempt to win the Derby.
"It's going to be good to return and try and win on Easy
Punch," Payne told Cyberhorse. "I'm really looking forward to it."
The talented heavyweight rider said he jumped at the chance
to ride in a country that he rode in with great success a few years ago.
"The Macau Jockey Club contacted me to ride in the
race," Payne said of the deal which was struck in the "last couple of
days".
"I will be riding for an owner of Mick Kent's. I rode
for that owner when I was based in Macau," Payne added.
The Macau Derby will be run on Sunday April 7. Flamboyant
French jockey Frankie Dettori has also been granted a visiting jockey's licence for the
Derby Day program.
Payne said he will only be out of Australia for a few days
and he will be looking at riding in Melbourne the following Saturday on his return.
PIC - Quentin
Lang. |
