Apprentice jockey Troy See loves a win, but upstaging Joao Moreira on the line just gives it that special kick that would make him the envy of many peers.
See, who was at his only booking of the day aboard Bright General for his boss David Kok in Sunday’s $35,00 Maiden race over 1200m, looked beaten at the 200m, but turned in a 10-out-of-10 ride which enabled him to nail the mercurial Brazilian and his mount, favourite Thankfulness.
What made the ride even more praiseworthy was that at the 300m, not many would have tipped against the Laurie Laxon-trained chestnut falling in a heap, going with the way he was showing no signs of buckling under Moreira’s hard riding.
Even See admitted he was prepared to bow down to Kranji’s former kingpin, who incidentally had already punched in a treble on Friday at the first of his four cameo meetings, as a perfect prelude for the same old juggernaut he had got the Kranji crowd weaned on in the last four years.
But a very industrious See kept changing his reins until Bright General finally got on his right leg, and with Thankfulness – who had a pesky Angsana (Mohd Zaki) for company for most of the way – feeling the wobbles inside the last 100m, they were able to lower Moreira’s colours.
See, who just like most of the local apprentice jockeys, looks up to Moreira as their role model, was rapt beyond belief upon unsaddling, even if he was ferried back in a buggy with Bright General being led straight back to the stables after the win due his inclination to dehydration.
“This is even better than winning a back-to-back double. Not many get the chance to beat Joao like that,” said See. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight!
“Joao judged the pace so well early and it’s always so hard to run him down when he does that.
“But in the last 50m, I saw his horse weaken, and mine just got there. We were lucky.
“As he is prone to heat stress, win or lose, we had already organised for him to be sent straight back to the stables. He’s a lovely horse who will keep improving.”
Kok, who himself was snapping a long run of outs, having not saddled a winner since Castor since June 27, heaped praise on his apprentice’s composure and confidence in taking on the maestro full-on.
“Troy rode the horse to instructions. There was no pace to the race and he was able to sit comfortably behind the speed,” said Kok.
“The horse just brought him into the race and when he issued a strong challenge, they were able to pip the favourite on the line.”
Kok said his dearth of winners in the last couple of months had lowered his and the staff’s morale a little, but the Sakhee’s Secret four-year-old’s win at only his second Singapore start could be a start of a new revival.
“It’s been very quiet for two months. It’s good to get another win after such a long time,” said the Singaporean conditioner.
“I’ve got many young horses coming through and if they perform to expectations, I could have a better end to the season.”
Last time this year, Kok was on 22 wins, more than double of his current tally of 10 wins, which includes the Group 3 JBBA Moonbeam Vase with Cash Luck in April.
– Singapore Turf Club
