Anger as racing great Viva Pataca languishes in 'dungeon-like' Macau stable

Four years after he was retired, Hong Kong's most successful racehorse - the multimillion-dollar winning Viva Pataca - is languishing in a spartan Macau stable.

As other champions like the record-breaking Silent Witness live out their final years in plush overseas retirement facilities, the horse that won the most money in Hong Kong racing history is being kept in "dungeon-like" conditions in a stable at the Macau Jockey Club, according to people who have visited him.

Owned by 93-year-old tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, the gelding won over HK$83 million before retiring, aged nine, in 2011.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club described the circumstances in which Viva Pataca was being kept as "unconventional". Ho did not respond to repeated questions from the .

John Moore, who trained Viva Pataca, said it was time for the horse to be sent to a farm for retired champions. "He's spent long enough in a stable in Macau and deserves a paddock where he can live out the rest of his life with grass up to his knees," he said.

Archie da Silva - owner of Silent Witness, which was retired to Australia in 2007 - said: "It's a joke, it's disgusting. A champion like Viva Pataca should be retired to a nice home in Australia or the UK where it can live out its days in peace and quiet."