By Larry Foley
A look to the heavens by jockey Jake Bayliss after In All His Glory crossed the line first in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1600m on Sunday said it all.
The young Australian had lost his grandmother to illness during the week; just weeks after Bayliss had made a quick return back home to spend valuable time with the woman who had had a significant influence on his life.
Bayliss wore a black armband as a sign of respect while he stayed in Singapore to fulfill his riding commitments, including the ride on the fancied In All His Glory for trainer Tim Fitzsimmons.
The All Too Hard six year-old was having his first start on the Polytrack but brought winning form – albeit in Class 4 – into the open race.
In somewhat of a surprise early, Bayliss found himself leading into the first bend but was happy to let Street Cry Success (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) roll along to take up the lead into the backstraight.
Most thought Amore Amore (Danny Beasley) would be the pacemaker, but after settling worse than midfield and wide in the early stages, the in-form James Peters-trained gelding had to work hard to take up an on-pace position while punching the breeze.
Meanwhile, Bayliss had the perfect sit one-back with cover and the only question was whether In All His Glory ($23) could match it late with some proven Polytrack winners.
When asked for an effort at the 300m, In All His Glory put paid to the two frontrunners with relative ease and scored a comfortable two-length win, though a celebratory gesture made before the post was against the rules, which led to a $500 fine for Bayliss.
Two backmarkers – Cheval Blanc (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) and Gold Strike (Marc Lerner) – ran on well late to fill the minor placings with just a head separating the pair, while Amore Amore did very well after a tough run to just missed the podium finish by a nose in fourth.
The winning time was 1 min 39.1 secs for the 1600m on the Polytrack.
An emotional Bayliss – while extremely happy with the win – was quick to pay tribute to his grandmother when talking to racing presenter, Pat Comerford after the race.
“I thought about going home early and spending the whole week with the family,” said the young rider.
“But I know she would want me to stay and ride – right up until the funeral. She was a big part of my life and I’d like to pay my respects to her, really grateful to get the win.”
Bayliss was full of praise for In All His Glory too.
“He did the first half, jumped well and put himself on the speed,” he said.
“I expected Amore Amore to be rolling along at a genuine gallop early in the race but I’m not sure where he was early but he (Amore Amore) found himself outside the leader, and then I was shuffled back onto the fence.
“But I respected the training effort and his turn of foot. When I got out, he really relished at the line.
“There was a query whether he would stretch out on the synthetic surface (Polytrack) but he can go round any other week!”
Fitzsimmons – who brought up a treble with the win of In All His Glory – thought both the horse and jockey did a great job.
“I told Jake to just roll forward,” said the affable Australian handler.
“If somebody esle wants to go (forward), just sit behind.
“The big question mark today was his first time on the Poly(track) and it was going to be too long a gap between runs (on the turf), so we thought “why not” while he’s in good form.
“It’s great for Jake, as you know his grandmother passed away during the week, so it’s fitting he can get a win for us today.”
While the horse has been a model of consistency of late, it has not been all plain sailing.
“He had a wind operation before this preparation,” explained Fitzsimmons.
“And you could probably make a case for four out of the five of those thirds (placings) he probably should have won – he didn’t have much luck.
“Then, we stepped him up to the mile – that was the owner Greg’s (Perry) idea and I don’t see any reason why we can’t continue to step him up, which might take him to another level.”
With that sixth win and eight placings in 21 starts, In All His Glory has taken his earnings to just shy of $230,000.
Worthy mentions
It was certainly a day out for Fitzsimmons who – with jockey Vlad Duric – kickstarted the meeting with an early double before bringing up his treble later in the day with In All His Glory.
Nate’s Champion ($14) bolted in in the opener – a $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1200m on the Polytrack – while the second-placed Wan Legacy ($10) was promoted to first place in the $20,000 Maiden race over 1600m.
Initial winner Engine Start was disqualified as lead bags fell halfway through the race after his saddle shifted at the 600m mark, thereby resulting in apprentice jockey Hakim Kamaruddin weighing in lighter than the carried weight.
A similar incident happened back in the year 2000 when Pacific Prince raced with jockey Darryll Holland aboard in the Committee’s Prize too.
With the treble, Fitzsimmons is now tied with trainer Donna Logan on top on the trainer’s premiership at 43 wins, but sits second on a countback for seconds. Logan bagged one winner in Wednesday ($20) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1200m.
Other than Fitzsimmons, trainer Mahadi Taib took home a double on the day courtesy of Tax Free ($16) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1000m with apprentice jockey Krisna Thangamani aboard before One Way Ticket ($71) won the Class 5 Division 1 race over 1000m for jockey Shafrizal Saleh, who stood in for jockey Tengku Rehaizat.
Shafrizal also won on the Shane Baertschiger-trained Shanghai Star (see earlier report) earlier to snare a double and hence, shared the riding honours with Duric on Sunday.
