Elione Chaves had four rides at Champ de Mars in Port Louis on Saturday, and two of them ended in victory. The last of them carried a story with it: in the feature race of the day, Bacchus took his revenge on exactly the horse that had beaten him by a short head four weeks earlier.
The Brazilian’s first win came in The RBL Contracting Trophy over 1850 metres, the second race of the day. The four-year-old gelding Lava County is usually a slow beginner, but he benefited greatly from the step up in distance, and in the straight the favourite Royal Port Louis had no answer. The first prize was 117,000 Mauritian rupees.
In the feature event of the day, The RBL Waterproofing Specialists Trophy over the same distance, Bacchus got a dream run along the rails just behind the pace. Chaves waited patiently, and the five-year-old gelding produced the strongest finish in the field.
He won by just under two lengths from Spelling Bee, who on 4 October had beaten him by the narrowest possible margin in the same kind of race over the same distance. Both of the day’s favourites came up short: Superior Force, the highest-rated horse in the field and ridden by the jockey leading the championship, Manoel Nunes, finished fifth, and Arbitration fourth.
For Bacchus it was a first win in Mauritius.
Both wins came for Arveen Nagadoo, and both horses have the same owners, Mr & Mrs Burty Luchman and Mlle Yuvina Luchman, who also own World Champion — the horse Chaves won with on its racecourse debut on 4 October. Lava County is by the Dubawi son Erupt, who won the Grand Prix de Paris and the Canadian International, while Bacchus is by Master Of My Fate, a son of the celebrated South African stallion Jet Master.
Chaves is now credited with 17 starts, four wins, a second, five thirds and 799,000 rupees in the Mauritius Turf Club’s official jockey standings. All four wins have come on two race days — and both times it was a double.
Four of the Nagadoo stable’s ten winners this season have been ridden by the Brazilian.
Three more race days remain at Champ de Mars: the Colonel Draper Cup (Gr.2) over 1500 metres on 7 November, the Lightning Cup (Gr.2) over 990 metres on 14 November and the Coupe des Présidents over 2050 metres on 28 November.
After that comes the 2027 season as first jockey for Annike Bye Hansen and Väsby Häst.
