Mesmerizing hands Crutchley first win as a Kranji trainer
Stephen Crutchley has led in countless winners at Kranji, but yesterday was the first time the Kiwi horseman was heading down to the winner’s circle as a trainer in his own right.
The New Zealander has been part of the local racing landscape since joining forces with owner Constance Cheng and became assistant trainer to Mark Walker in 2014.
“It’s a shame Constance Cheng and her partners and friends can’t be here to celebrate,” said Crutchley after Mesmerizing (Cosmic Trigger) came off a scrap a short-head winner from Cheval Blanc (Red Jazz) in the Class 4 race over 1700 metres.
After saddling his first seven runners without much luck at his first two race meetings, Crutchley felt if there was to be a breakthrough it could come in that Class 4 race where he had two of the seven runners, also being responsible for eventual fourth Green Star (Iffraaj).
“I thought both horses had a good chance. They’ve both been working well, looked really well in their colour,” he said.
“I was a bit surprised the other horse (Green Star) was held back further than I would have liked and didn’t travel closer as he was supposed to lead. Not sure what happened there, but he still ran well.
“The winner didn’t like sand in his face the last time, and we put the blinkers on today. That made a big difference.”
Sun finally shines for Iskandar
Iskandar Rosman was grinning from ear to ear when he returned to the scales after Sun Rectitude (Sepoy) provided the Malaysian with his first winner of the year when he landed the opener on what proved to be a memorable day for the talented apprentice
Iskandar, who was formerly indentured to Lee Freedman before joining local handler Young Keah Yong last year said: “I’m so happy I won my first race for the year. Things have been very tough since my claim has dropped to two kilos
“My boss doesn’t have many horses and most of the better ones already have jockeys, but he still supports me when he can.”
Iskander did not have to wait long for his second winner of the year – he was on board Mesmerizing two races later.
Tan gets perfect Gift
Jerome Tan could not have hoped for a more emphatic way to break his 2022 duck when Sacred Gift (Zoustar) upstaged much better-backed rivals in yesterday’s Class 2 race over 1100 metres.
“It’s great I’ve finally won my first race this year and my first for Raffles Racing. May the good run continue,” said Tan, who went on to complete a double when Big Tiger (Akeed Mofeed) won two races later.
The victory for Sacred Gift also capped a memorable day for his rider – Iskander was booked as a late replacement for the indisposed Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui.
“I told Iskandar to sit at the back, and the horse finished off strongly, especially with no weight on his back,” said the winning trainer.
Iskandar’s treble propelled him to second spot on the Singapore apprentice jockey’s log, one behind Seow.