Bred from the family of two time Australian Horse of the Year Makybe Diva, Lonhro gelding Jolly Banner is still going strong at age eight, claiming a second Black Type success with victory at Sha Tin on Sunday in the Group III Premier Cup (1400m).
The Ricky Yiu trained sprinter was ridden by Matthew Poon, who guided him to a three-quarter length win over fellow Aussie bred sprinters Perfect Match (Not a Single Doubt) and Fat Turtle (Smart Missile).
“Amazing – he’s an amazing horse,” trainer Ricky Yiu said after the eight-year-old maintained his record of winning at least one race in each of the six seasons he has raced.
And, fittingly, the faithful stalwart edged his handler closer to a first premiership title, with Yiu bagging a double to take his score to 61 wins; extending to a five-win lead over Tony Cruz.
“It’s encouraging! That win’s very important,” Yiu said, with a hopeful smile.
“Jolly Banner has won a Group 3 at 1000 metres but this is his best trip. With the light weight he can fly – he’s a different horse with a light weight.
“We’ve always spaced his runs; we run him every two months – seven or eight weeks – so he came here in perfect condition. Health-wise there’s nothing wrong with him and that’s why he’s maintained his performance at eight years old.”
Jolly Banner was a $300,000 Inglis Easter purchase for his trainer from the Tyreel Stud draft and has the overall record of eight wins and 15 placings from 41 starts.
“It’s great to get another Group 3 trophy with the owner; I bought the horse as a yearling and his dam is a half-sister to Makybe Diva,” Yiu said.
“It’s a very good family and he cost a little bit, AU$300,000 as a yearling; the owner is my best friend, I’ve known him for 40 years and I rang him and said, ‘Come on, Kenny, buy this one, buy him.
“He only needed a 68-rating to come to Hong Kong and he won first-up; now he’s rated 104.”
Yiu is in no hurry to retire Jolly Banner either.
“If his health is good at the start of the season, we’ll keep him going to the end of the year – give him another six months,” he said.
Bred by Makybe, Jolly Banner is a half-brother to stakes-winners C’est Beau La Vie and Wales being the best of six winners from Group III winner Valkyrie Diva a Group III winning half-sister by Jade Robbery (USA) to triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.
Valkyrie Diva has a yearling filly by Snitzel that was passed in at Inglis Easter this year.
Jolly Banner is one of 88 stakes-winners for champions ire Lonhro, who stands at Darley NSW at a fee of $66,000.
