Maia signs off with a winner after picking up Grand spare ride
Hong Kong-bound jockey Ruan Maia was all smiles after he had been able to fall back on a late pick-up ride in order not to walk away on a losing note at his farewell Kranji meeting.
The Brazilian jockey was riding at his final Singapore meeting after Thursday’s stunning news he had been lured by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to continue his career in the coveted jurisdiction.
Having impressed all and sundry at Kranji with his close second to champion Vlad Duric last season, and having already ridden seven winners to sit on top of the log in the new season, Maia didn’t really need a fairytale ending to prove his worth.
Nevertheless, at least one winner at his ‘adios’ day would have come as the perfect send-off, and also a nice way of saying goodbye to the legion of fans he had made in his inaugural season.
As it turned out, Maia may want to go and give his colleague Louis-Philippe Beuzelin a big hug, or it would have been a bit of an anti-climax.
After the French jockey was stood down for gastric pain, Maia was gifted the plum ride on Grand Koonta (Dark Angel) in the main race of the day, the Kranji Stakes A race (1200m).
With none of his original rides saluting, Maia knew the Irish-bred grey was a manna from heaven that he just couldn’t afford to waste – and he didn’t.
“This is just so great and I’m really lucky I got that ride on Grand Koonta as he’s such a good horse and it’s even better it was a Kranji Stakes A race,” said Maia.
“Now it’s time for a new challenge in Hong Kong, but like I said before, this is only goodbye. I would like to come back to Singapore to ride again as I really love the place.”
Should that happen, James Peters would be among many trainers to welcome the Brazilian hoop back with wide-open arms.
“The main thing today was to get into a good spot in the first 100 metres, and Maia did that very well,” said Peters.
“His last trial (on January 14) was a little disappointing, but to be fair, he’s not a Polytrack horse. He ran last, it’s never ideal going into a Kranji Stakes A race.
“But he pulled up okay and I also decided to pull the earmuffs off today. They are meant to stop him from over racing and going flat out, but they’ve gone the opposite way; I thought they relaxed him too much.
“He also didn’t like the wet. Today the track wasn’t too bad and he won a nice race.”
The winner recorded 1min 9.21secs for the 1200 metres on the Long Course as he beat Churchill (Smart Missile) by a length, with Fame Star (Twirling Candy) the same distance away in third.
Departing Brown pays tribute to Yong
In a fitting tribute to late prominent horse owner Yong Nam Seng, one of his Gold Stable wards, Gold Kingdom (Animal Kingdom) saluted at Kranji yesterday.
The 92-year-old, who was the chairman of a local construction company, passed away last Saturday. The avid racing fan ran one of Singapore’s oldest stables with its gold and red diamonds silks carried to many victories by the likes of Gold Strike (Iffraaj) and Magnificent Gold (High Chaparral).
After having had horses with trainers like Teh Choon Beng, Arnaud de Moussac, Dr Yeoh Kheng Chye and his brother Sonny in the past, Yong had been supporting mainly Cliff Brown, and his former assistant Tim Fitzsimmons, of late.
Prepared by Brown, who on Tuesday delivered the big news he was leaving Singapore in March, Gold Kingdom blew his rivals away with an emphatic four-length win in the Class 5 race over the Polytrack mile. The winning time was 1min 38.4secs.
“He was a wonderful man. He supported me from the moment I got here,” said Brown.
“He’s a terrific owner, very generous and a very caring guy. You don’t meet many like him.
“Our families became good friends. We often had dinners together, and my son Harvey told me one day that Mr Yong has always done the right thing by us, and he was right.
“Mr Yong died last Saturday, but we didn’t have any runners for him then. This win today is for him.
“The good news is the Gold Stable will still carry on, Mr Yong’s legacy as a racing fan will live on.”
New Garden keeps Tan momentum going
Punters proved to be right on the money after New Garden (War) came up trumps in the maiden over 1100 metres to finally open his account at his 11th attempt.
With only one third to show previously, the four-year-old had clearly not been setting Kranji alight, mostly in identical maiden company, hence his long quote when markets opened, but a late betting plunge eventually saw him start at $33.
Given a perfect ride by Wong Chin Chuen, New Garden weaved his way around a bunched pack inside the last furlong to beat Phaxe (Choisir) by a neck, with Showbound (Showcasing) another two and a half lengths away in third. The winning time was 1min 5.22secs for the 1100 metres on the Polytrack.
“He needed the run last time. I backed him up as he’s a big strong horse,” in-form winning trainer Jerome Tan said.
“He’s a horse who’s better off held back. Last time, we tried to ride him up with the pace and he couldn’t finish off.
“Today, he took the run through the gap and he won. Happy days.”
Royal Pavilion hands Shafrizal belated birthday present
Royal Pavilion (Casino Prince) came with a withering burst to take out the Class 4 over 1800 metres and hand jockey Shafrizal Saleh a belated 33rd birthday.
The rider celebrated his big day last Saturday, but his two Kranji rides that day, Prosperous Return (Fighting Sun) and Resolution (Toronado), both for his former master Michael Clements, failed to bring any happy returns.
One week later, Clements more than made up for it by putting Shafrizal on a winner in Royal Pavilion, and the newly-promoted senior jockey didn’t let the opportunity go begging.