By Larry Foley (@kranjiracing), 27/04/2024
Lim’s Bighorn made it back-to-back feature race wins for the all-conquering Lim’s Stable, trainer Daniel Meagher and jockey Marc Lerner after he won the $150,000 Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) on Saturday.
The famous blue and yellow star silks just saw Lim’s Kosciuszko and Lim’s Saltoro run one-two in the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy last Sunday before they welcomed another victory in the highlight race of Saturday’s meeting again.
Lim’s Bighorn’s first Group win was more impressive in the fact that he jumped from the widest gate no. 11, did the hard work early before hanging on in a thrilling finish.
Lim’s Bighorn (Marc Lerner) holds off the closing Bakeel (Manoel Nunes) to win the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic.
The early intention from Lerner was clear when the French hoop pushed along the son of Better Than Ready to lead while Greatham Boy (Carlos Henrique) and Pacific Commander (Luis Corrales) were on his tail.
$9 favourite Ace Of Diamonds (Bruno Queiroz) was also in the handy pack, albeit three wide with no cover, while Bakeel (Manoel Nunes) settled on his inside as the field turned for home.
Upon straightening, Lim’s Bighorn kicked two lengths clear on the chasing pack and while Ace Of Diamonds was battling away, it was only Bakeel who looked to be of any danger.
With 150m to go, Lim’s Bighorn still had a two-length advantage over Bakeel. Yet, the Steven Burridge-trained galloper was also shortening the gap with Lim’s Bighorn with every stride, until a short head separated the pair at the post.
Ace Of Diamonds overcame some interference in the straight to finish another three lengths back in third, albeit a neck in front of his stablemate Strike Gold (Bernardo Pinheiro), who again ran on well to finish fourth.
The winning time was 1 min 21.18secs for the 1400m on the Short Course. Lim’s Bighorn’s fourth win from five starts took his prizemoney to over $130,000 for the Lim’s Stable.
While the Group 2 victory was a big step-up from his previous win in Class 4 company, Meagher was not surprised by the all-the-way winning effort and he even made comparisons to another rising star from the Lim’s Stable.
“He’s like Lim’s Saltoro,” said the Australian conditioner to racing presenter Scott Bailey after the race.
“They won in Class 4 races and it didn’t look that impressive, but we as a team know they are better than that.
“He’s (Lim’s Bighorn) still learning but when he gets to the front, he gets a lot more confident. It was an inch-perfect ride by Marc, wasn’t it?
“He’s a really nice horse. He’s come up a long way. He was very average early on in his career but I think that was my training; I didn’t get it right.
“I took too long with him but when we put the blinkers on him, he’s a different horse. It’s just a great effort.”
Meagher will not change much heading into his next race, the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1600m) on 18 May.
“We don’t have to tinker,” he continued.
“We’ve won a lot of races with our system and not worrying where they are going at their next start.
“He’ll just do his normal routine though he has to get a little more ‘correct’ in a mile race, but I’m very impressed on the way he did it today.”
While Meagher had two chances in the big race with Lim’s Smythe finishing in seventh, Lerner was simply happy to be on the right horse at the right time.
“There is something I would like to say to everyone,” said Lerner, who pulled off a double on Saturday after Healthy Baby ($175) also scored in the $30,000 Mister Yeoh 2018 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 2 race (1400m) three races earlier.
“I wanted to ride the other horse (Lim’s Smythe) because I really liked him, but Daniel was pushing me to ride Lim’s Bighorn.
“He said he’s (Lim’s Bighorn) on fresh legs and the 1400m would suit, so the credit must go to the trainer.
“He (Lim’s Bighorn) does everything right but needs to get rolling. Daniel wasn’t worried about the wide gate. We just wanted him to find his feet and get him comfortable.
“I’m very happy for the whole team. If we can do that in every Cup race, I think that would be a dream come true. Credit to the team and I’m only the one sitting on them.
“We have a big target in four weeks’ time. We need to focus and make sure all the horses are at their peak and it will be exciting.”
Lerner was referring to Lim’s Kosciuszko, who will run in the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) and Lim’s Bighorn, who’s targeting the Singapore Guineas on 18 May.
