Lucky break for Jose De Souza

IPOH,  April 28, 2010

After drawing a blank for the past five days, Brazilian jockey Jose De Souza got a lucky break here today when he was nominated to ride FIRE BIRD in place of Noel Callow (who was unwell).

Seizing on the chance, De Souza landed the American gelding a comfortable winner in the Class 5 (Banded 28-38) sprint over 1200m.

It was also the maiden success for FIRE BIRD (Read The Footnotes - Java Ridge by Marquety) who managed four pacings in his previous 10 starts after landing in Malaysia for trainer Malcolm Thwaites.

De Souza, 30, completed his apprentice in 1992 and is currently licenced by the Jockey Club in England.

SPEED BABY, unbeaten in his first four starts, found his match today when he went down to CAPTAIN OBVIOUS (Verglas - Shathor by Tirol) in the Table 1 Race - 1400m sprint.

It was the sixth win in 10 starts for CAPTAIN OBVIOUS, winner of the Malaysia 3YO Championship and the Magic Millions Classic last year. 

RESULTS AT A GLANCE

1

 CLASS 4 (BANDED 48-58) - 1100M STR

17

 Freedom T Yeoh Woodworth

1

10

 Big Beau McGillivray Chuah

2

4

 Venetian Thwaites G Mathias

3

12

 Triple Kwan S Liew K Yazid

4

2

 RESTRICTED MAIDEN - 1100M STR

5

 Mighty Istana Seet J Low

1

4

 Supreme Star Tiang Woodworth

2

11

 Distant Glory Hoy A Chew

3

2

 Will Power Wong S H Lee

4

4

 CLASS 5 (BANDED 28-38) - 1200M

13

 Sir Ed E Breukelen Kumarentheran

1

8

 Best Recruit Wong K T Cheng

2

4

 Classic Sparkle P Lee Goon

3

6

 Man With Honour Tiang Aify

4

5

 CLASS 3 - 1200M

2

 Ninetyfive Seal S Liew N Shahrul

1

13

 Majestic Amethyst Hoy Yan

2

3

 Lucky Beauty Thwaites A Austin

3

6

 Slipa Vista McGillivray K Yazid

4

6

 CLASS 5 (BANDED 28-38) - 1200M

8

 Fire Bird Thwaites J De Souza

1

10

 Daring Spur J Tan Woodworth

2

7

 Arkin E Breukelen Yusri

3

11

 Knight Greg J H Tan Aify

4

7

 DA MA CAI STAKES,  CLASS 4 (BANDED 48-58) - 1400M

7

 Guangzhou Star K H Ng K T Cheng

1

6

 Dashing Hero T Yeoh J Low

2

12

 Reciprocal T Yeoh Woodworth

3

4

 Captain De Lago B T Lim I Fadzlei

4

8

 TABLE 1 RACE - 1400M

2

 Captain Obvious K L Chong Woodworth

1

7

 Speed Baby K Coetzee J Lim

2

8

 Only One Wong Saifudin

3

5

 Flying Jumbo K Coetzee B Pengelly

4

9

 CLASS 4 (BANDED 48-58) - 1400M

11

 Special Star Hoy A Nawawi

1

4

 Nippon General Sukri Aify

2

5

 Jeram Faithful A Rahim S H Lee

3

3

 My Darlin Angel Hoy Yan

4