Singapore Racing: Marsh Claims Training Honours With Treble

After slipping under the radar for a while, trainer Bruce Marsh enjoyed a good day at the office after he scored a fantastic hat-trick of wins on Sunday.

The Kiwi handler, who has had a subdued season with a tally now sitting on 21 winners while last year he was almost at double that amount on 41 winners, certainly deserved such a fillip to finally come his way given the massive overhaul he has put his yard through.

“It’s great. The morale was a bit low in the yard, but with three winners today (Sunday), that will give us a lift,” said Marsh.

“We have turned over a lot of our old horses and our new horses are only coming through now, but will be even better next year.

“In saying this, it’s a big thrill to see one of Kranji’s oldest horses still win at the grand old age of 10.”

It was indeed a Perfect 10 for Marsh’s Daad’s The Way ($39), a 10-year-old by Istidaad who came with a well-timed run in the penultimate event, the $35,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (1600m) to bring up his 10th win, incidentally handing Marsh’s apprentice jockey Zuriman Zulkifli a riding double after he scored aboard Pratt Street for Marsh earlier.

The second leg of the three-timer came via Bourbon Gold in the highlight of the day, the $100,000 Kranji Stakes B race over 1700m, though that was the win that Marsh had probably already written off from a long way out.

Marsh was starting to have second thoughts about giving apprentice Chan Wei Sheng a leg-up on the Gallant Guru six-year-old halfway through the race, but his doubts eventually turned into a big pat on Chan’s back as he weighed back in.

The instructions to the young rookie, whom he was using for the first time, was to settle the $30 shot midfield, but he must have been muttering under his breath after Bourbon Gold was dropped back at the rear of the 11-horse field ahead of only one runner (Clutha Lad).

But Chan had not defied orders. He later reported that the circumstances of the first half of the race were such that he found himself further than he had planned, but he did not panic and decided to ride the horse for luck.

Chan was well inspired when he started scrubbing up his mount from the 600m the moment he realised the tempo had picked up and he might miss the boat.

As race-leader Desert Fox (Rueven Ravindra) fell away, Majestic Moments gave the best impression when he cruised to the front with his rider Nooresh Juglall barely moving in the saddle, but the real threat was shaping up in yellow and purple, though Bourbon Goldman was inclined to lay in under pressure.

Blossoms Sequel (Manoel Nunes) was also motoring home after settling in the rear division, but it all proved futile when he could not match Bourbon Goldman’s firepower either. Well ridden by Chan, Marsh’s ward swept past to score by three parts of a length from Majestic Moments with Blossoms Sequel third another neck away.

The winning time was a smart 1min 44.99secs for the 1700m on the Polytrack.

“I picked WS Chan as I wanted a claimer (three kilos) because of his weight (58 kilos). He rang me and I gave him a chance,” said Marsh.

“We were supposed to be midfield, but he got back a bit. It was not looking very good.

“But the horse started travelling like a winner from the back and he was too good in the end. I gave him a long spell (four months) as he’s got dicky legs, but he just loves the Poly and he’s proven it again today (Sunday).”

Chan was very thankful to Marsh and the connections for the chance to ride Bourbon Goldman.

“I wanted to ride him earlier in a barrier trial but did not get the chance. I tried my luck again when I saw his name on the handicaps, and to my surprise, they responded,” said Chan.

“Mr Marsh told me to settle midfield but I couldn’t go forward when I saw some horses closing up, and that’s why I dropped back and took a sit.

“When I saw the leader getting further ahead, I decided to make my move. The horse picked up nicely, and I tried my best to make him turn into the straight without going too wide as I wanted to reserve as much energy as possible.

“The horse gave a very good turn of foot. I’m very happy I won my first $100,000 stakes race and I’d like to thank Mr Marsh and the owner, Mr Ong Boon San for trusting me.”

With that fifth win on top of 10 placings from 25 starts, Bourbon Gold has now brought up stakes earnings past the $350,000 mark for Mr Ong.

– Singapore Turf Club

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