Lim toys with Derby idea after Metal World win
Trainer Jason Lim’s staunch belief that Metal World’s (Paynter) strongest suit resides in more ground was vindicated by a gutsy win from the US-bred win in the S$50,000 Class 4 race (1600m) on Saturday.
The Singaporean handler did tinker around with 1400-metre to 1600-metre trips for Metal World before, with one seven-furlong win as a first test pass, but which was subsequently shot down by an unplaced finish in a Polytrack mile race in February.
The defeat still didn’t deter Lim in his resolve to again push the envelope for the horse formerly known as You Qian Zhuan, and Saturday’s success proved him right.
Adding more merit to the win was the manner it came to fruition by dint of hard work, with his jockey Louis-Philippe Beuzelin losing his whip at the 150-metre mark. Amazingly, it was a case of déjà vu for the Frenchman as he also parted with his crop aboard the Michael Clements-trained Almugir (Union Rags) one race earlier in the S$30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1600 metres, and still won.
Sent out a $25 shot, Metal World punched the breeze three wide in fifth spot, but seemingly still had enough gas left in the tank when he straightened up. Buddy Buddy (Dubawi) showed anything but a friendly disposition when collared by Metal World, but eventually went down by a neck.
Ironchamp (Glass Harmonium) tried to make all but faltered late to take third place another one-and-three-quarter lengths away. The winning time was 1min 36.43secs for the mile on the Long Course.
“I always believed this horse needed more ground. That’s why we tried him over 1600 metres on turf today,” said Lim.
“He failed on 1600 metres once but that was on Polytrack over two turns. There is only one turn on turf.
“The pace was fast and suited him. The jockey also rated him very well, and the horse got the win.
“He was in great condition. Whether he could win or not, we weren’t sure, but we knew he’d run a good race.”
While rapt he was spot-on about the longer trips, Lim was not about to pull out the “mission accomplished” rubber stamp yet.
“I may look at the Derby (July 25) for him. We’ll see how he pulls up first,” said Lim.
“We’ll enjoy today’s win first. We really needed that win as we’ve had 20 seconds.”
Renzo brings solace to Le Grange-Crabbia duo
Argentinian two-year-old Renzo (Orpen) backed up his recent solid debut third by going two better in the famous Rocket Man black and red maltese colours of prominent South African owner Fred Crabbia in the S$75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200 metres on turf on Saturday, but it still left a bittersweet taste to his trainer Ricardo Le Grange.
The South African handler launched Renzo alongside another Crabbia-owned Argentinian-bred juvenile in an identical RM race three weeks ago, Raffie (Hurricane Cat), coming away with a near-perfect result of Raffie and Renzo filling the minor spots in that order behind Amazing Breeze (He’s Remarkable).
Le Grange was entitled to feeling all buzzed up about their future at Kranji, but unfortunately, Raffie, the one his gut feel told him had more potential, went amiss.
To see Renzo step up to the plate was just the tonic the stable needed to partly erase the downer.
“Renzo had improved very much after his debut third. His trackwork had sharpened up so much,” said Le Grange.
“He’s a horse who will furnish into a lovely horse and he will get even better over more ground. There’s a lot of class about him.
“Unfortunately, the win is one of those bittersweet stories of horse racing. He went amiss after his race, he fractured a sesamoid.
“Between Renzo and him, he was the more precocious one. He could be out for a year or two, but we hope we can get him back.”
While the tone at the winner’s circle was subdued with Raffie in the wars, Renzo’s win was not without other feelgood factors.
“Both Renzo and Raffie are named after Fred’s grandchildren. They would all be up early to watch the race in South Africa,” said Le Grange, who has been associated with the steel businessman from the days he was assistant-trainer to Patrick Shaw in South Africa, even before heading East.
“They will be thrilled with that win. Fred has been a wonderful supporter over the years, and it’s great to see him get the younger generation involved in horse racing.”
Le Grange had words of praise for another youth, even if he is probably a little more seasoned than the Crabbia bunch – two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey Simon Kok Wei Hoong.
“Simon did nothing wrong with Renzo at his first run. He was always going to stay on and he’s given him a nice positive ride today,” said Le Grange.
Kok, who later brought up a riding double aboard the Kuah Cheng Tee-trained Sky Eye (Per Incanto) in the S$50,000 Class 4 Division 1 1000-metre speed dash, was indeed at his faultless best on the $27 shot, bouncing him to the front and just nursing him along from debutant Greatham Girl (Super One).
Renzo was still green as grass as he started to pull clear in the home straight, but nothing was coming from behind. Sneaking up along the rails, Illustrious (Top Echelon) was the one who pinched second place two and a half lengths away, a nose from Dragon Sands (Dragon Pulse) in third.
Right on the outer, Eight Ball (Stryker) was looming as a big threat of finishing over the top of them to finally break his maiden tag, but he peaked on his run to finish fourth another neck away, a head from Greatham Girl, who will surely make further headway from that first run. The winning time was 1min 11.58secs for the 1200 metres on the Long Course.
Renzo is a brother to another one of Crabbia’s, Water Rocket, a four-time winner who now races in Class 4 company. It would appear the Rocket Man owner had initially registered the names of both Renzo (Water Pick) and Raffie (Water Jacket) in the same “Water” theme – even Water Rocket was originally Water Channel, but the doting grandfather later changed his mind – blood is indeed thicker than water!
Renzo’s win was bringing up a race-to-race double for Le Grange after Sayonara (Shocking) took out the S$30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over the Polytrack mile one race before. It was the five-year-old’s second success but the first for Le Grange following his transfer from former Kranji conditioner Cliff Brown, who is now based back in Mornington,
“It’s great to see Sayonara finally get a win for us and (owner) Guy (Shirtliff),” said Le Grange.
“Harry knew what he was doing with that horse. He’s taken it upon himself to come to the stable every day to work him.
“The plan has come together, and he also gave him a very good ride.”
Man Of Mystery powers to Shafiq’s comeback win
It was a pick-up ride on the well-backed Man Of Mystery (All Too Hard) that provided comeback jockey Shafiq Rizuan his much-awaited return to the winner’s circle at Kranji on Saturday.
The former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey had been forced into exile plying his trade in New Zealand and his native Malaysia for three-and-a-half years since his non-renewal in 2018, but was able to return to his old stomping ground when the Singapore Turf Club changed tack and granted him a six-month licence from July 1.
After two unplaced efforts at his first day back last Saturday, Shafiq had to endure one more unplaced ride on Sweet Tapit (Tapit), before an impromptu call-up finally gave him the chance to lap up the moment he had long been yearning for.
Replacing the indisposed Vlad Duric aboard Man Of Mystery, aptly for his former master Mark Walker, in the S$50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 1000 metres, Shafiq certainly gave Kranji a reminder why he has always been regarded as one of the best homegrown acts.
The Singapore Gold Cup-winning jockey, however, humbly put that early redemption down to luck. If anything, the symbolism mattered more than the mechanism behind the win.
“It was just luck. I’m a very lucky boy,” said Shafiq.
“I’m already so lucky I got a licence to ride in Singapore when racing in Malaysia has stopped, and the Covid-19 situation also seems to be getting worse there.
“Then today, I won on a pick-up ride which was also a good chance. I’m so happy I got my first winner.
“I looked up to the skies after the line, hoping my late mother is watching – her birthday was on July 1.
“But the horse did everything by himself, Mark had the horse fit and ready. I was just the jockey.”
Shafiq is selling himself short. The Kelantan-born jockey had to use of all his science of pace to keep the six-year-old humming and building momentum in the perfect spot. He then peeled his mount three wide to the outside of First Chief (Fastnet Rock) and Cousteau (Exceed And Excel), counting up to five before finally going flat to the boards at the 200 metres.
First Chief tried to engineer a fightback but Man Of Mystery was in no mood to loosen his grip on a fourth victory, ably assisted to this end by a vigorous Shafiq.
A placegetter at four of his last five starts, Man Of Mystery stood his ground by a half-length advantage on First Chief all the way to the wire. Vulcan (Per Incanto) ran on to claim third spot another length away. The winning time was 58.26 seconds for the 1000-metre speed scamper on Polytrack.
“He had a nice draw (three), he jumped and followed the pace. He travelled well throughout,” said Shafiq.
“At the 400 metres, I knew he could win. I waited for the last 200 metres to let go and he was too good.”
Walker, whose last winner with Shafiq dates back to September 17, 2017 when they combined successfully with Bao Shan Magic, was delighted the old firm was back for a second lease of life.
“Shafiq is back in town! He has always been a class rider,” said the three-time Singapore champion trainer.
“I told him to take his time on this horse. He held him up as long as he could, it was a ten-out-of-ten ride.
“Shafiq has been riding trackwork for me since he came back and will definitely get plenty of support from me.
“He just needs to get race-fit again as they weren’t racing for a while in Malaysia but he’s getting there.”
He ain’t Fat, he’s Mr Big Brother
Vet bills have been piling up instead of wins for Mr Big Brother (Al Maher) in his two seasons, but perseverance finally paid off on Saturday.
Resuming from a mandatory six-month ban imposed for a bleeding attack at his last start on October 25, Mr Big Brother (who was originally known as Mr Fat Kiddy) was breaking through for his first win at his 15th start in the S$20,000 Maiden race over 1100 metres on Polytrack.
If there were any concerns his lack of racing fitness could tell when he collared the weakening leader Superior Coat (Coats Choice) after racing prominently throughout, they were quickly allayed.
Presumably mindful of Mr Big Brother’s fragile past history – he also underwent a wind op – jockey Saifudin Ismail was seen cuddling him to the line even as they surged to the front, but when favourite Reignite (Sebring) crept up underneath him towards the railside, it was the cue to go full bore.
The momentum seemed to be swinging Mark Walker’s gallant challenger for a few fleeting seconds, but the three-year-old again proved intractable with his inclination to lug in.
There were, however, no such steering worries with Mr Big Brother, who kept pulling plenty to go and score with three-quarters of a length to spare from Reignite. Ben Wade (Ferlax) ran third, another gap of four and a quarter lengths away.
“After he bled, he also did a wind surgery – a tie-back surgery performed by the Club vets,” said winning trainer John O’Hara.
“He had a good break that actually helped. I told Saifudin to ride him positively, and when they overcame their wide barrier (ten) and got into a handy spot, I knew he would be in with a chance.
“It’s good for the owners as that horse had run many seconds. He had a change of name, the owner also changed the stable name (to Shengjun Stable), but the horse still races in the colours of the racing manager Frankie Lim (better known as the owner of 2011 Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Fatkid).
“Here I’d like to thank Frankie for his patience with this horse. He never gave up hope even after so many problems.
“A shout-out to my assistant-trainer Mahadi Taib. He really looked after this horse and today’s result is a fantastic reward for all concerned.”
Anecdote lovers would be interested to learn that Mr Big Brother’s time of 1min 4.45 for the Polytrack 1100 metres is the new class record, shaving 0.11 second off the previous mark held by Emerald Hill (Sharp Humor) – trained by O’Hara and ridden by Saifudin nine years ago!
The Singaporean handler was unaware of the coincidence, but played it down when told about it.
“There’s been a bit of rain, and the Polytrack has been made faster as a result. It’s a false time, but it’s still a nice record to have,” said O’Hara.
“Emerald Hill was a very difficult horse to train, but he was super speedy and very talented. Only Saifudin could ride him.”
With that maiden win, Mr Big Brother, the only remaining progeny of Victorian stallion and Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Al Maher (Danehill) still racing at Kranji, sees his stakes skip to around S$65,000 for the Shengjun Stable.