Leatherhead scores in thrilling finish
Zyrul rides a perfect race to take the main event on the new Singapore season’s opening day
Racing fans, starved of action from the one-month break at Kranji, got plenty of thrills and “spills” at Singapore racing’s resumption yesterday with 12 races on the card – all on the Polytrack.
It was still racing behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 protocols, but fans enjoyed it on StarHub’s Horse Racing Channel 288 (English) and 289 (Chinese).
The 2022 season’s opener saw some exciting finishes, including two won by the narrowest of margins – a nose – two three-figure upsets and two horses dislodging their rider on the way to the start.
Coincidentally, both were senior jockey Saifudin Ismail’s mounts. One Way Ticket was caught, vetted and finished third in Race 8, while Split Second was scratched from the final race.
The main event of the day – the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1,600m – had only eight runners, but it turned out to be a thrilling affair.
It was won by the Ricardo Le Grange-trained bottomweight Leatherhead from stablemate and topweight Pennywise, with the stable’s third runner, Senor Don, beating only one home.
Le Grange had said pre-race that his trio were in great shape. He was banking on some luck in the competitive event, pointing to the David Kok-trained rising star Real Efecto as the horse to beat. Real Efecto finished third.
Although his four earlier victories were over yesterday’s course and distance, including one in record time (1min 37.45sec), Leatherhead was the least-backed of the stable’s trio, at $57 for a win.
His successes were all in Class 4, but he was racing in Class 3, which justified his higher odds. Senor Don showed $24 and Pennywise $26. Real Efecto was the $14 favourite.
Le Grange had calculated that by running Leatherhead in a higher division, it “would take some weight off him”. It paid dividends. After Zyrul Nor Azman’s 2kg claim, Leatherhead got in with only 51kg, 8kg lighter than Pennywise.
Pennywise, who sat around fourth behind the tearaway leader Super Dynasty, Vittoria Perfetta and Senor Don early, hit the front shortly after straightening.
Leatherhead started his run from the rear round the bend and was within striking distance on seeing daylight. An aggressive ride by Zyrul in the final 100m saw him get past his stablemate by half a length in 1:39.23 on the rain-affected Polytrack.
Le Grange told Zyrul that his charge needed to get going early and to let him come home around the 600m mark to 400m mark.
“Zy is a nice young rider. I’ve given him horses a couple of times and he’s ridden Leatherhead perfectly,” he added.
Zyrul said Leatherhead “felt very fit” on the way to the start. But he was unsure how his mount would measure up against good horses like Pennywise, Real Efecto and Special Ops.
It was the first time he was riding the horse, so he followed the trainer’s instructions to the letter.
“When they jumped, they really went, because the Polytrack today was not really a back-runner’s track. They can’t make up too much ground, so that’s why a lot of jockeys want to go forward,” said the 33-year-old Singaporean.
“I didn’t go from zero to 100 at one go. I just tapped him, just gave him a few on his back and pushed him.
“Only in the last 100m, I gave full all-out riding, which is good because the horse needs to go through the gears to finish off like that.
“I am thankful that Ricardo told me that, because if I were to ride my normal way, I don’t think the horse could have run that well. I’m quite an aggressive rider.”
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
