Limited Edition surprises
Trainer Jason Ong credits veterinary surgeon Dan Shaw of S’pore Turf Club for $110 winner
The sparingly raced Limited Edition bounced back from an eight-month break on Saturday to score a thrilling victory, giving trainer Jason Ong great satisfaction.
Greater still, the Singaporean also saddled the runner-up, Universal Empire, for a huge forecast payout – $185 for a $2 outlay.
Limited Edition was the fourth least-backed runner in the field of 11, paying $110 in the $50,000 Class 4 event over the Polytrack 1,200m.
His stablemate was the third favourite, at $24.
Ong could have given himself a pat on the back or praised jockey Rizuan Shafiq after his horse charged back to the winner’s circle for the seven-year-old’s third success in 20 starts.
Instead, he directed the kudos to the Singapore Turf Club veterinary surgeon, the unsung hero of the comeback victory.
Ong revealed that Dr Dan Shaw had shown a great deal of patience and dedication in bringing his charge back to his best.
Unseen since last May, when he finished seventh to Wealth Elite in Class, Limited Edition stepped out for his Polytrack race after having his problems fixed.
If the switch in surface (both his earlier wins were over 1,200m on turf) and cobwebs were sources of concern, they were quickly set aside when Limited Edition came off a smothered midfield run to trump his rivals inside the last 200m.
The leader, Crystal Warrior (Manoel Nunes), looked to have the race in his pocket when he shook Magnifique (Saifudin Ismail) off.
But he was immediately set upon by a bunch of chasers, headed by Renzo (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) and Universal Empire.
A few lengths astern, Shafiq had bided his time to a tee. Once he peeled Limited Edition into the open on the outside, there were no prizes for guessing where the thicker end of the prize money was heading.
Limited Edition went on to score a soft win – by half a length from Universal Empire – in 1min 11.79sec.
Renzo had every chance but had to settle for third, another half a length away.
“After the horse ran a disappointing race in May last year, we realised he was not right. He was very sore,” said Ong.
“It was not easy to get him right, but Dr Dan Shaw put in a lot of effort to get him right.
“He did a bone scan and all his four fetlocks had problems. No surgery was required, but just long breaks, and Dan did a lot of work on him.
“He was very attentive to the horse, and would come by to check on him very often. To me, Dan doesn’t get enough credit for his fantastic work at the club.”
Ong also credited his New Zealand owner, Alan Young.
“He’s been very patient and left it to us to look after his horse’s best interests,” he said.
“He trialled very well (third) behind Katak a couple of weeks ago. That’s when I knew he was in the right form.
“With Universal Empire running second, it was an even better result for the stable.”
Limited Edition now has a record of three wins and six placings from 20 starts for more than $130,000 in prize money.
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