Blackbuck earns first victory

Trainer Richard Lim said that Blackbuck owed his first win to all the right ingredients coming into the mix at his sixth Kranji start on April 6.

The speedy Winning Rupert three-year-old had been knocking on the door following two close thirds at his last two starts.

When he drew barrier No. 1 in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race (1,100m), Lim’s confidence grew a notch or two.

Save for his debut, when he was still green, Blackbuck has always managed to settle among the first few.

It also helped his cause that the other noted speedster in the 12-horse field, Big Max (Bruno Queiroz) drew out in 11, although favourite Lucky Goal (Manoel Nunes) is equally nippy, and was jumping from a better alley in three.

Blackbuck ($18) duly landed in front for apprentice jockey Faiz Khair. But, in the end, it was newcomer Lucky Warrior (Ryan Curatolo) who came matching motors with him.

The question whether Blackbuck would absorb the pressure better this time was soon answered when the duelling pair straightened up for the judge.

For a fleeting moment, the race appeared to be all stitched up when Lucky Goal, under a supremely confident Nunes, cruised up with the greater momentum despite carrying 57kg.

But the swing in weights soon told.

With only 53kg on his back, courtesy of Faiz’s 4kg allowance, and hard up against the rails, Blackbuck was not an easy customer to unseat.

In the end, neither of his two chasers got “lucky”.

Lucky Goal had to settle for second, ½-length away, with Lucky Warrior third, another 1½ lengths away. The winning time for the Polytrack 1,100m was 1min 5.02sec.

“He has definitely improved as we saw at his last couple of starts,” said Lim.

“He was initially quite green. He lacked racing experience, but he’s getting better and better with each race.

“As he has natural speed, we want to make full use of that. From barrier 1, there was only one way to ride him, go forward.

“But, when Nunes’ horse came in so fast, I have to admit I was a bit worried. Luckily, he still had a kick left in him.”

Now that that maiden tag is broken, the next task is to find a suitable race to keep him on an upward spiral. Lim is not in a hurry, though.

“I don’t have anything in mind for him yet. We’ll have a look at what’s available on the programme,” he said.

While it has taken six runs for the jockey-turned-trainer to unlock the winning formula for Blackbuck, Faiz said that just the one previous ride was an eye-opener to him.

“At my first ride on him, I panicked when the other horses came in (after we led). I urged him too early and he flattened out quickly,” said the Singaporean apprentice jockey.

“Today, he had a good draw and he led easily, even if we had company.

“The other horse (Lucky Goal) never went past us. He kept holding on, I kept pushing him, and decided to use less of the whip.

“Instead of whipping him, I showed him the whip just to keep him going.”

Faiz was chalking up his third success for the 2024 season, with all three winners coming for Lim, even though he is indentured to Desmond Koh.

The opportunities are fewer with the Singapore Derby-winning trainer, who has only 13 horses left in his stables these days, and does not win out of turn.

But Koh was still able to pay a visit to the winner’s circle on April 6 with the well-backed Sacred Buddy ($13) in the $30,000 Class 5 race (1,200m). It was his sixth win from only 42 starters, a laudable strike rate for a small team.

The Sacred Falls four-year-old, who was dropping in class after mixing it in much more flattering company – including Lim’s Saltoro, Silo and Strike Gold in a not too distant past – proved too good when he led from barrier to box for Krisna Thangamani.

manyan@sph.com.sg