Lim’s Lightning like a blast from the past

By Michael Lee, Singapore Turf Club

If an award had to be bestowed for the training feat of the day, Daniel Meagher would win hands-down after comeback horse Lim’s Lightning came defying all the odds in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1200m on Saturday.

Back at Kranji two years later after a disappointing campaign in Australia (only one win in a lowly race at Werribee in eight starts), the former Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m) winner had come off a long-drawn conditioning-based prep, looking the part for a much-awaited reboot at his old stomping ground, but remained a question mark as to him scaling back to the same heights he reached before he left.

Still, Meagher went through all the painstaking steps he took to get the Lim’s Stable galloper back on track since he landed from his elder brother Chris (who trained him from Mornington for that one win) in December, and couldn’t fault any.


Lim’s Lightning (Wong Chin Chuen, dark blue silks) flashes home to win at Kranji first-up.

But when the cards at the barrier draw were dealt (14 into 12), his heart sank. Any hope the Lope De Vega five-year-old could acquit himself with a decent first-up run was given a serious dent.

One can now imagine the explosion of joy and relief from the 37-year-old handler when Lim’s Lightning ($48), under a heady ride from Wong Chin Chuen, overcame a torrid trip in the cheap seats to go and upstage a handy bunch of sprinters in a driving finish to the line.

Entitled to call it a day after enduring that four-wide journey, Lim’s Lightning was, however, still making headway when he was set alight by Wong down the middle of the track.

Coming off a fairly soft lead, Fame Star (Mohammad Nizar) kicked into another gear after shaking favourite Zac Kasa (Vlad Duric) off halfway up the straight, but as it’s been the case at the US-bred’s last half-dozen runs, he was again left a sitting duck close home.

Singapore Gold Cup winner Big Hearted (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) probably had “unbelievable winning comeback over 1200m” already etched in the headlines when he unwound with a sizzling run on the outside, but the story of the day was to be Lim’s Lightning’s.

A head split him and Fame Star while Big Hearted just came up short by a nose in third place. The winning time was 1min 9.06secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.

A jubilant Meagher screaming “Yes! Yes! CC Wong, he’s the best!” dashed out to first hug his track rider and strapper-for-the-day Fahmi Rosman, who does all the morning riding on the “difficult” horse.

“Fahmi, what a legend! He rides this horse every day, he’s such a difficult horse to ride, he’s a work in progress,” said the Australian trainer.

“He’s the last horse to work every day and we fit him with – you name it – net on his mouth, three-ring bit, just to keep him trying.

“But Fahmi has done a great job on him. He spent three years with (ex-trainer) Saimee (Jumaat) and he was well educated.

“He rode Lim’s Lightning at his first barrier trial and Danny (Beasley) rode him at the next four. Danny told me he kept improving after each trial.

“I knew he was in a good place as his body weight was stable. In Australia, Chris told me it was difficult for him to hold his condition, his weight would drop easily.

“I didn’t like the barrier, but I told CC to keep it simple. He had no other choice but to post him wide, but he rode him to his advantage.

“It’s great to see him win again first-up. Dad (ex-Kranji trainer John Meagher) was the first on the phone to congratulate me! It meant a lot to him.

“I’ll see how the horse pulls up. I may look at the Lion City Cup next, he’s beaten some of the best sprinters today, so why not?”

The Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) will be the first feature race from a very modified line-up to the racing calendar this season. The premier sprint race is due on April 24.

Wong said he was pleased when Meagher offered him the ride on Lim’s Lightning even if such a long time away does raise a few concerns.

“I knew he was a very good horse, but he left and then came back, and we don’t know how he will go again,” said the former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey.

“I listened to the trainer who asked me to ride him where he is comfortable and not to fight him as he’s got big strides.

“He made ground when I asked him for his run at the top of the straight. He responded very well and got his head in front right there.”

Overall, Lim’s Lightning has now recorded six wins (including the Australian win) from a total of 19 starts (eight in Australia) for stakes earnings in excess of $475,000 for the Lim’s Stable.

iRace
Author: iRace