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In 2009 Saimee Jumaat was the toast of Singapore racing when he captured his ninth Jockey's Premiership title and in the process went within two victories of cracking the magical 100 win barrier for the year.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
That year also coincided with him bagging a magnificent seven victories on a Sunday afternoon in August.
He followed up in 2010 finishing fourth behind Joao Moreira with 57 winners for the year after missing the opening two months of the season through suspension and again finished in fourth position with 56 winners last year.
Fast forward to 2012 and Saimee is languishing in 19th position on the Premiership Table with just three winners for the year having had just 60 rides for the year.
In contrast is premiership leader Moreira who has been first past the post on 66 occasions but has also had more than three times the rides that Saimee has had.
Gone is the ride on Better Than Ever on whom he won the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge in 2010 and so too the backing of Laurie Laxon for whom he did the bulk of his riding in previous years.
But Saimee is not complaining and knows that the Singapore racing scene is one that has become highly competitive and that getting on that elusive “good horse” will hopefully kick start his season.
“It is so competitive out there at present,” said Saimee. “There are so many good jockeys riding here.
“Unfortunately I lost a lot of rides when I was on the sidelines there for a few weeks and once you lose them it is hard to get them back.”
Saimee is hoping that he might have that “good horse” when he rides Indicio in the Group 3 $200,000 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint over 1200m on Friday night – the opening leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Series.
He will be reunited with Indicio on Friday night after being forced to give up the ride on the gelding when stood down from riding on February 12.
“I've always liked this horse right from the time I rode him at his first start when he finished second,” said Saimee.
“I wasn't on him last time after I was stood down but he ran a good race for Saifudin (Ismail) despite racing against his normal pattern.
“I've been on him in most of his work since he last raced and coming back to three-year-old grade on Friday night is certainly going to help him.
“On what he has been showing us on the track I'm sure he is going to give a good show.”
With rides getting hard to come by recently, Saimee has again spread his wings to Malaysia and recently rode at Selangor in Kuala Lumpur and will again be heading there this weekend.
Trainer Stephen Gray said Saimee had lost none of his ability and that certain jockeys suit certain types of horses.
“Saimee's a good friend and a very good rider,” said Gray. “Previously I was using Vlad (Duric) a lot but since he's gone I've been using whoever is available.
“He's done a lot of work with this horse. He just needs to get on the right horse again and hopefully this is the horse for him.”
Gray said he gave Indicio a bit of a break following his last start third behind One More Minute on February 12 before preparing him for a tilt at the Three-Year-Old Challenge.
“He had a nice trial last week and importantly Saimee gets on very well with him,” said Gray.
“There will be a bit of speed in the race with Speedy Cat in there and he will be coming home at the finish.
“You take Super Easy out of the race and he's as good as any of the others that are there.
“To me he's a nice 1400m horse and a miler so I think the second and third legs of the series will suit him even better.”