Once upon a time, In France, there lived a horse named Dilek and he was happy!
He loved his jockey Chris (Soumillon) and his jockey loved him. Awww.
At Saint-Cloud he got a nice view of Sudan's behind and a few other horses passed him.....
He could only manage 5th, but Chris knew he was a good boy and asked to ride him again!
Together they won the next four in a row, beating other nice boys like Champs Elysses!
Finally, in his 6th race where he was 3rd to Stormy River, Dr. Ho (the infamous Macau Casino tycoon) took one look at him and insisted this horse must go to Hong Kong. Yea!!!
He met his new stablemate Comic Strip and they were such good friends that Dr. Ho decided they should both be renamed Viva.
Now Dr. Ho had had a horse named Viva Pataca, but he was retired (before ever racing, I believe) so Comic Strip got his name, in tribute, and Dilek got the name Viva Macau!
He didn't do that well at first..... I mean who would with Nunes up?
He was good-natured though and took it all in stride, and being called Viva 2 never bothered him! (He was, however, relieved when Dr. Ho bought Kid Mambo and named him Viva Hong Kong.... thus now having a Viva 3 which made him the middle child).
He could only manage one win BUT it was such a nice win and a tough field.....
http://www.hkjc.com/english/racing/r...2007&raceno=08
... and he beat home some members of the old guard which was pretty exciting.
He had Darren (Beadman) up but occassionally Chris would come to see him and even ride him at times. Awwww.
His form / France.....
http://www.hkjc.com/english/pp_formsheet/fse_H110.pdf
... and in HK.....
http://www.hkjc.com/english/racing/h...p?horseno=H110
He got to ride a plane to Dubai with Watch What Happens which was fun as they're both French and the fligh attendants couldn't understand them!
Anyway, he's currently the only Viva in Dubai as his buddy, Viva 1, won't fly out for a couple of weeks.
He might not exactly beat Seachange (very exciting... there aren't many girls in HK! Ooooh, maybe he can ask her out!
) or many home but hey..... for once it's a good thing not to be overshadowed by Viva #1!
Safe home, pretty boy.