Koh hits 600th win milestone with a double

History has repeated itself – for trainer Desmond Koh.

In 2022, the Singaporean handler roared on the second day of the Year of the Tiger with a double from his auspiciously named winners, Luck Of Master and Lucky Imperator.

On Monday, the second day of the Year of the Rabbit, he again saddled a brace – Exceed Natural in the $30,000 Class 5 event over 1,600m on turf and Flying Nemo in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 1 event over the Polytrack 1,100m.

But, this time, the celebratory mood was decidedly more joyous: He achieved a new milestone, reaching his 600th Kranji win.

Trained in America, he started his Kranji career in 2004. That year, he saddled nine winners.

He snared a few feature successes as the years went by, the biggest being the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby with Chase Me in 2012.

Koh was ecstatic he could reach his 600th Kranji victory on Monday’s auspicious Chinese New Year meeting with his pocket dynamo Flying Nemo.

His two-from-two hero weighed only 429kg but has a big heart.

On Oct 8, the Nemo Stable-owned three-year-old New Zealand-bred also finished with a pulverising run to take the $75,000 Restricted Maiden event over the Poly 1,000m.

“They said I was close, but I didn’t know it was this one,” said Koh, after Flying Nemo produced a dazzling turn of foot to nab Opunake (Mohd Zaki) within the shadows of the winning post and score by three-quarter lengths in 1min 5.57sec.

“He’s a small horse, very young and new, so we don’t want to use him too much.

“I gave him a break after his last win and sent him out when he’s fresh.

“I thought he’s a good chance. Let’s hope he comes back well, and we’ll take it race by race with him.”

Koh, 50, heaped thanks to the Singapore Turf Club for the opportunity to train at Kranji.

He was also grateful to all his owners and friends who contributed towards his milestone.

“Of course, my colleagues who have toiled with me over the years. It’s been a long and winding road,” he added.

“I try to make it a point to score something during Chinese New Year. People say like ‘ang bao horses’.

“As for this year, I hope that our racing can start to recover from the setbacks we suffered during the worst Covid years.”

Both Exceed Natural ($23) and Flying Nemo ($12) were ridden by jockey Simon Kok.

He had resumed riding after recovering from" space="1"a hairline fracture to his right scapula during his three-week stint in Maisons-Laffitte and Chantilly in Paris in December.

He fell while doing trackwork in France but felt none the worse then.

“It went unnoticed and I continued to work, until the first meeting here, and I felt the pain on that day,” said the two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey.

He had to give up his rides, including four which won, on the first day of the 2023 Singapore season on Jan 7.

“I went to the hospital to do an X-ray, which showed that there was a hairline fracture on the right scapula, so I rested for a while and missed two meetings. But I’m 100 per cent (fit) now.”

Monday’s Chinese New Year meeting also saw jockey-turned-trainer Kuah Cheng Tee achieving his 100th win milestone with $22 chance Last Samurai (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin).

“So happy to get my first winner and also my 100th winner on Chinese New Year,” said the 48-year-old Singaporean, who bagged his first career victory with Smart Fortune on April 8, 2016.

“I expected him to run a very good race. I wasn’t worried about the rain at all because American-breds tend to handle the wet ground easily.

“You need to ride him in the right place and get the right pace. He is a challenging horse, but also very honest.

“We’ll see how he pulls up before we plan his next race.

“The future is filled with uncertainties, so honestly, I have not set any goals for myself, given the current circumstances.

“We try our very best to train every horse and wish for more winners as we go. It’s also very important to have the support of owners.”