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In with the new, out with the old

As King Louis bows out a winner, Hole In One salutes for Le Grange’s young guns

Ricardo Le Grange’s training double at the last Kranji meeting on Saturday encapsulated the changing of guard taking place at his stable.

Old soldier King Louis’ win was his final bow, while Hole In One’s maiden success eight races earlier signalled the dawn of a new era that will belong to younger blood.

The symbolic day of sorts came hot off the heels of the South African’s highest acclaim, since taking over his mentor Patrick Shaw in 2017, with Hongkong Great’s triumph in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Nov 19.

Trainers are a case-hardened lot who are seldom given to hokey sentimentalism, but there are some exceptions like perennial “crier” Daniel Meagher.

Le Grange does not wear his heart on his sleeve as much.

But the emotion was palpable when he paid a last tribute to his loyal servant King Louis, even if he may not have been the best horse he has put a bridle on.

“That’s his final race. I wanted to go out on a winning note with him,” said Le Grange of his 36th winner, who cemented a laudable fourth place on the 2022 trainers’ log.

“What a way to go out. We’ll find him a nice home and look after him.

“He’s been an absolute superstar here, one of my favourites in the yard.”

Originally raced by racing guide iRace owner Steve Levar, the Medaglia d’Oro eight-year-old was a Group 1 staple in his early years.

His trademark booming finish earned him four wins for the Australian, including the Group 3 El Dorado Classic (2,000m) in 2018.

But his best race probably came in an agonisingly close defeat in 2019. Under a hard-riding William Pike, he lunged at I’m Incredible at the post in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, only to miss out by a pimple.

After his form went patchy and ratings tapered off, Le Grange took over ownership in 2020.

While the spirit was still willing, the flesh was not as strong.

But the ageing warrior still earned his oats with three more wins, including Saturday’s hurrah in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1,700m).

Fittingly, the tenacious $70 victory also gave Australian jockey Jake Bayliss the perfect farewell present.

“Jake rode him an absolute treat. Once he got on the fence, I was like ‘oh shucks’, this is not where he wants to be,” said Le Grange.

“With the big races coming up next year, we’ll definitely use Jake if he’s happy to come back, and the turf club is happy to relicense him. He can come ride some for me.”

Bayliss would be on a plane in a heartbeat, even if the 28-year-old Queenslander had been at the receiving end of a few choice words during their hot-and-cold partnerships.

“We’ve had our moments – one week, I’m riding everything for him, one week, I’m barred,” said Bayliss.

“Like today, the instructions from Ricardo were to stay off the fence. I went a furlong and I was on the paint.

“I was thinking, here we go, here’s another spray. But it just worked out well.

“So, Ricardo’s hard to keep up with but, when I’m in his good books, I’m riding winners.

“Hopefully, I can come back and team up with some more winners.”

It will not be King Louis but, who knows, it may well be Hole In One.

After a horror tee-off, where he ended up more like a shot in the water, the Spieth three-year-old bounced back with a slashing win in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden event over 1,200m.

Hopelessly held up on the fence in the straight on debut under Simon Kok, Hole In One steered clear of traffic this time under Vlad Duric.

He again drew in, but the four-time Singapore champion jockey made sure he had plenty of exits while staying in the slipstream of leader Groovy (Koh Teck Huat).

Once in clean air, he just powered away.

“I can’t blame anybody the first time, that one draw on the Poly is an absolute kiss of death, in my opinion,” said Le Grange.

“I’ve been going to the Magic Millions sales in the last five years and, every year, I’ve cracked a nice one.

“Fingers crossed, he’s the next one and it’s onwards and upwards from here. A massive thanks to the owner Sandy Javier, who’s become a big investor in the stable, and Jun Almeda, who basically manages everybody.

“I have bought 12 new horses for next year, mostly two-year-olds, for them and some other clients.

“I also got one four-year-old from England and one three-year-old from Uruguay.”

HORSE RACING