He was known as Comic Strip and won 5 of 7 while trained by Sir Mark Prescott.
Bought by the infamous gazillionaire Dr. Stanley Ho of Macau casino fame, he was sent to Hong Kong and re-named...
Viva Pataca was the grandest of the Viva horses (Viva Macau who had been Dilek and trained by A. de Royer-Dupre in France and who I loved
) and Viva Hong Kong who was the former Kid Mambo and winless in HK as well as a few other, lesser-knowns) and he had had 13 wins (13-5-10 from 44) and raced strictly at the highest levels.
In his day he beat home champions like Vengeance of Rain, Bullish Luck, Admire Moon, Lizard's Desire, Never Bouchon, Sight Winner, Egyptian Ra, Floral Pegasus, Good Ba Ba, Best Gift and Super Kid.
He retires with a rating of 117 which puts him at #22 on the current Top 50.
He's 9 years old and, I'd imagine, there will be an official farewell ceremony for him at Sha Tin before he's shipped off to I-don't-know-where.
He was the Horse of the Year for 2008/2009.
Happy retirement and thanks for the memories.