Another polished ride by Shafrizal

No, champion trainer Tim Fitzsimmons did not key in the jockey’s declaration form wrongly this time – Shafrizal Saleh’s name was correctly submitted on Jewel Sixty-One last Saturday.

After all, the Malaysian jockey did a good job by leading throughout on the AJ’s Stable’s chestnut American-bred’s win on March 4.

Then, it was Shafrizal’s gain and Zyrul Nor Azman’s loss.

Fitzsimmons had sheepishly admitted making a blunder which he was very remorseful about. He quipped that he would buy Zyrul a meal as compensation.

He had keyed in Shafrizal’s name, instead of Zyrul, on the Singapore Turf Club racing portal for the March 4 meeting.

Well, his faith in keeping the lesser-known Penang-born rider on board in Saturday’s $50,000 Class 4 race over 1,400m on turf paid off handsomely.

Instead of leading on the horse who ended his drought this season, Shafrizal parked Jewel Sixty-One handy – albeit being trapped three wide on the outside of Charminton (apprentice Yusoff Fadzli) and Sousui (Ronnie Stewart).

Stablemate Ahorsewithnoname, taken in from her widest draw by champion jockey Manoel Nunes, disputed the lead with the Ricardo Le Grange-trained Renzo (apprentice Rozlan Nazam).

They were a couple of lengths ahead and led the trio into the straight, where Charminton took the shortest route, flanked by Sousui.

Jewel Sixty-One straightened wide but was in a striking position.

Renzo seemed to gain the upperhand close to home after shoving off Ahorsewithnoname.

But Sousui and Jewel Sixty-One lunged at the leader to make it a thrilling three-way finish.

As luck would have it, Shafrizal pushed Jewel Sixty-One’s head down where it mattered most. Sousui also got up to beat Renzo for second by a short head.

The winning time was 1min 23.19sec.

The third fancy, Jewel Sixty-One paid $33 for a win and it was the gelding’s third straight success from just six starts.

The five-year-old returned triumphant from a 7½-month spell on Feb 12 with Nunes astride.

Shafrizal, 35, has also achieved a new milestone on Jewel Sixty-One – the horse was his 100th career winner since he obtained his apprenticeship in 2013 under Singaporean trainer Jerome Tan, who was then based in Penang.

He has brought his Kranji tally to 57 wins and, with 43 wins in Malaysia, the father of two young sons has made it to the century club.

He was thankful for the support from everyone and to Fitzsimmons for providing him with the two successes on Jewel Sixty-One. His other 2023 winner was the Tan Kah Soon-trained Zygarde.

“Zyrul was supposed to ride the last time, but this time Tim said you got luck with this horse, so you can ride again. I’m very thankful for that,” said Shafrizal.

“From the handicap, Nunes and Ricardo’s horse would likely go forward, so my instruction was not to chase and fight them.

“Let them go and, up the straight, get a clear run and do your best. The horse was travelling well.

“Top of the straight, I felt it was 50-50 but he kept fighting to the finish. I saw Stewart’s horse hit the front, but my horse fought back and I knew he could win.

“It was very close, it was an early Hari Raya present for me.”

Shafrizal represented Singapore in an apprentice series in Australia in 2020. He was third in Hobart and fourth in Ascot, while the races at three other venues were cancelled because of Covid-19.

Fitzsimmons knew Jewel Sixty-One, who was drawn in Gate 8, would be beaten for speed.

“We thought there would be a lot more speed and we would end up just behind the leaders with some cover,” said the 2022 champion.

“Unfortunately, that didn’t work out and he ended up posted three wide the whole race, so he did an incredible job to do it tough and still win.

“He’s got a big heart this horse – never gives up. Next start, I will step him up to 1,600m.”

Fitzsimmons is now joint second on the trainer’s premiership table with Kiwi handler Stephen Gray, who saddled a double with Hyde Park and Arya Pakuan.

Both are on 13 wins, just three behind Michael Clements.