By Sharon Zhang, Singapore Turf Club
Senor Don held off favourite Spirit Of Big Bang under a smart frontrunning ride from apprentice jockey Yusoff Fadzli to score in the $100,000 Rocket Man 2009-2012 Stakes on Sunday.
The young Malaysian rider is riding in red hot-form these days.
Besides the Ricard Le Grange-trained Senor Don, he won on board Speedy Missile ($44) and Charminton ($15) for his master trainer Donna Logan in the $70,000 Lim’s Cruiser 2017 & 2018 Stakes, a Class 3 Division 1 race over 1200m and $50,000 Capablanca 2008 Stakes, a Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m respectively.
Thanks to his second treble of the year (the first one was on July 9 when he won on Elliot Ness, Trident and Eagle Eye), Yusoff currently sits on top of the apprentice jockeys’ premiership on 16 winners, four more than apprentice jockeys Iskandar Rosman and Jerlyn Seow who are tied in second place on 12 winners each.
This is his best result thus far since he began riding in Singapore four years ago.
“Overall, I’m very happy with three winners today,” said Yusoff.
“I will keep up the good work.”
Though the bulk of his winners (14 out of 16) this year came from his master trainer Donna Logan, his good results has also led to more support from other trainers.
After winning on Lord Justice for trainer David Kok last Sunday, Yusoff has now ridden his first winner for Le Grange after Senor Don led from start to finish in the Class 1 race over the mile.
“I want to thank the trainer for giving me a chance to ride him,” said Yusoff.
“It’s my first time riding him, and I was a bit surprised with his win because he’s got a bad draw.
“Ricardo told me to jump and then if we can, to sit just behind the speed.
“But he was relaxed when he went forward. I think the lightweight helped him too.
With the featherweight of 50kgs on his back, the six-year-old son of Senor Candy jumped straight on the bunny from the start while stablemate Pennywise (Krisna Thangamani) settled on his outside.
After Pennywise rolled off, Senor Don ($51) kicked on strongly in the straight under Yusoff’s urgings to deny the fast-finishing Spirit Of Big Bang (Wong Chin Chuen), a four-time winner over the mile, of a win by a short head.
Trumpy (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) charged home late to finish another three-quarters-of-a-length in third. The winning time was 1min 35.96secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.
Le Grange has targeted a second Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) to be held on November 19 for Senor Don after his first win on the turf on Sunday.
The Chelsea Stable-owned gelding ran last to Big Hearted in the staying feature two years ago.
“Massive thanks to the Yong family (owners Mark and Emily Yong), they never gave me any problems nor questioned me why wasn’t the horse running,” he said.
“This little horse is running with a lot of confidence at the moment, and he has now put his hands up for a chance at the Gold Cup, especially because of the light weight.
“It’s still a long way to go. I have to keep him in one piece, but he’s lowered the flag of some very smart horses today and I thought that was a great win.”
Though the big race is still some time away, Yusoff was already excited at the thought of riding Senor Don.
“Ricardo told me after the race that he would ask my trainer (Logan) to put me on this horse for Gold Cup.
“I’m happy but hopefully he can get a better draw then because it would be better for him.”
Zahra wins on The August
Visiting Australian jockey Mark Zahra got off the mark on The August at his third ride on Sunday.
The Jerome Tan-trained The August ($17) flew home in the $70,000 Why Be 2007 Stakes, a Class 3 Division 2 race (1200m) in the Lucky Last.
“The plan was to ride the horse quiet today and he was nice and relaxed,” said Zahra.
“They went at a nice tempo and he was strong at the end.”
He ran second on Sacred Judgment and finished third aboard the well-supported Golden Monkey in the Group 1 Lion City Cup.
Worthy mentions on the card
Though Wong brought up a double (see previous report) with his win in the Group 1 Lion City Cup on Lim’s Kosciuszko ($15) after scoring earlier on Khao Manee ($25) in the $30,000 Aramco 2013 Stakes, a Class 5 race over 1600), it was Yusoff who took the riding honours on the day (report on his hat-trick of wins above)
Two popular Australian hoops, Vlad Duric and Ronnie Stewart also rode doubles on a day with no less than three visiting hoops adding to the competitiveness in the jockey ranks.
Duric won on the well-fancied Thunder ($8) for trainer Tim Fitzsimmons in the opener – the $30,000 Lim’s Lightning 2021 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 1 race over 1400m – before making favourite backers happy again with Boomba ($9) scoring in the $50,000 Super Easy 2013 Stakes, a Class 4 race over 1600m.
Stewart got Charger ($42) home for trainer Stephen Crutchley in the $30,000 Inferno 2020 Stakes, a Class 4 Division 2 race over 1200m, before booting home Global Spirit ($30) in the $30,000 Zac Spirit 2014 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 2 race over 1400m for his brace.
In the trainers ranks, Logan continued her stellar run of form with a four-timer, which takes her to outright lead in the trainers’ premiership with 41 winners for the year.
Besides Speedy Missile and Chaminton, Trident ($18) won the $75,000 War Affair 2015 Stakes, a Novice race over 1400m, incidentally bringing up the sixth and last winner for jockey Blake Shinn as he returns to Australia after a five-week stint in Singapore.
Then, Legacy Fortune ($27) won the Zac Spirit 2016 Stakes, a Class 4 race over 1400m under the guidance of visiting jockey Silvestre De Sousa (see earlier report).
Fitzsimmons – who now sits one behind Logan on the trainers’ log – had a double with Thunder and Boomba, while Tan also enjoyed a brace with Khao Manee and The August.
