Le Grange swings in another Hole In One

Hot favourite Hole In One duly obliged at Kranji on Aug 11, even if it was not the expected walk in the park – not by a long shot.

But the surprisingly hard-fought win by the Sandy Javier-owned gelding was not the reason for the deep furrows on trainer Ricardo Le Grange’s forehead at the winner’s circle, though.

It would appear that the South African horseman had still not got over a race – which he also won – from two weeks back.

While he did not refer to a particular race during Hole In One’s post-race interview, besides the time frame, the thinly veiled swipe at his adversaries’ tactics narrowed it down to Boardroom’s win in a Class 4 over 1,600m on July 28.

The Justify grey – who was another favourite raced by Javier – led as expected, but was not left alone. The $12 pop still fought on bravely for the win.

Had Boardroom been beaten, a seething Le Grange might have beaten a straight path to the stewards’ room.

Two weeks on, and even if another victory could help Le Grange forgive, he was in no mood to forget.

When asked about Bernardo Pinheiro’s cool handling of Hole In One ($8) in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1,600m) on Aug 11, the roundabout answer was anything but off-tangent.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been taken on by other stables, like two weeks ago,” he said.

“So we had to think differently, for today’s race.

“It was indeed a cool, calm and collected ride from Bernardo. I’m glad it paid off.”

Unlike Boardroom, Hole In One is a backmarker who was unlikely to get “taken on”, more so in a small seven-horse field.

But Le Grange still had a pre-emptive strike at the ready. He spoke with Pinheiro (who also rode Boardroom at that win) at length about the best way to stay out of trouble – sit pretty in midfield, before going in search of clear run in the home straight.

The Spieth five-year-old, whose previous run was a brave third to Lim’s Saltoro in the Singapore Derby in spite of weary legs from a torrid run out wide, did present with a booming run at the top of the straight.

On paper, he should slay this much easier cattle, but Great Warrior (Manoel Nunes) proved hard to get past.

Pinheiro had to bring his A-game before Hole In One finally got down to business to put a gap of one length on his pesky challenger.

“The horse ran super in a Group race. Down in Class 4, we were confident, we knew we had the best horse in the race,” said the Brazilian jockey.

“Today he broke so well. I knew I had two horses behind who were the main dangers.

“We were in a good position and were never too far back. At the 800m, I was very confident. He gave his all.”

Class riser Flying Fighter (Carlos Henrique) finished best of the rest for third another 3/4 length away.

The winning time was 1min 34.75sec for the 1,600m on the long course.

“For six months, he had a lot of niggly issues. We’ve got him good now,” said Le Grange.

“If not for his issues, he could have been a very good 3YO, if not better than Bestseller.

“He’s a smart horse and the Derby proved it. Karen and Sandy are amazing people to train for.”

As Le Grange again spared a thought for his No. 1 supporter, owner of Group winners like Bestseller and Ace Of Diamonds, to him, every owner deserves transparency, whether it is good or bad news.

He would rather not rake up the past, but in this case, that very cornerstone of a successful racing operation made for a compelling reason to do so.

“Boardroom was my Gold Cup horse, but he hurt himself after that last race. He’s out for the rest of the season,” he said in reference to the $1.38 million Group 1 Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Singapore’s last day of racing on Oct 5.

“I had to call Sandy to let him know that his precious Justify was out. That wasn’t easy.

“That’s why I had to talk about this race in public. I owed it to Sandy, I’ve said my piece, let’s move on.”

Racing is a game where everybody is entitled to their opinions, but ultimately, nobody can throw the book at anyone, except for the recognised authority, the stipendiary stewards.

From the stipes’ report, no sanctions were taken from any jockey or trainer in that race.

manyan@sph.com.sg