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Six-time Singapore champion trainer Laurie Laxon reached another personal milestone when he notched his 900th Kranji winner on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
The horse who provided the New Zealander the landmark win may have been in the unlikely shape of Class 5 galloper Ace Adalid, who was incidentally shedding his maiden status at his 13th start, but it was still a fitting tribute to the training prowess of a very successful horseman.
Laxon, who was unfortunately not on hand to pop the champagne on this auspicious day, being still on holidays in New Zealand - from which he returns on Monday - had stable supervisor Shane Ellis on hand to accept the accolades on his behalf at the winner's circle.
“Hopefully Laurie is having a gin and celebrating his 900th win over there now,” said Ellis smiling.
“And counting my sling – probably not!
“It's great for everybody at the stables and all the owners. Without them, we would not have the horses to reach this kind of record.
“This horse (Ace Adalid) has always had some ability but is a bit of a hothead. Michael Freedman used to have him before and took him to the barriers many times to try and fix his problem.
“He's had his ups and downs, but it was just a matter of getting him right on the right day. Danny cuddled him up in a good spot and the horse raced away for an easy win.”
Beasley, who rode an earlier winner aboard Devonshire for another Kiwi trainer, Stephen Gray, was chuffed he was the one who gave Laxon the significant win.
“Laurie has always been good to me. It's always a pleasure to ride for him and I have in mind the two rides on Waikato,” said Beasley who often gets a call-up from the champion trainer whenever Joao Moreira, who normally gets first pick, is not available.
“Laurie is a trainer who has always set the bar here. His horses are always super fit and easy to ride.
“He never really gives any instructions and gives us no pressure – just leaves it to us to use our own ability and judgement.”
Beasley said Ace Adalid, a four-year-old by Ishiguru, was a horse he knew from his early days under Freedman's care.
“I rode him at his debut and I rated him quite well then. I remember he did show some ability then when he ran second,” he said.
“But he then went through the barriers once and he's never been quite the same after that.
“Gladly, he chose the right time to put his best foot forward – when I got back on him.”
After taking a sit on the rails in sixth spot, Ace Adalid got out at the top of the straight to collar race-leader For Your Eyes Only (Saifudin Ismail) before staving off a late run from smokie Reverse Takeover (Sam Subian) to reach home by half-a-length in the time of 1min 6.14secs for the 1100m on Polytrack of the Class 5 race.
Ace Adalid is raced by the ACE & Midas The Allotrope Stable and paid $100 for a win on Sunday.