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Leading apprentice A’Isisuhairi Kasim rode a winning treble on Friday night to extend his lead in the Singapore apprentice jockey premiership.
After he saluted aboard The Omega Man for Michael Freedman in the first race, the Malaysian rider was back in the winner’s enclosure two events later when he steered home the Brian Dean-trained Golden Rabbit before completing his rout on Casino King for trainer Patrick Shaw.
With those three wins added to his current tally, A’Isisuhairi now sits on 65 wins, 42 clear of last year’s champion apprentice jockey Tengku Rehaizat.
With a full book on the nine-race programme at Kranji, A’Isisuhairi said he was expecting a good night and was actually hoping to bag his first five-timer. But after he lost on two well-fancied runners, Power Lin (5th) and favourite Acordo De Paz (third), the Steven Burridge apprentice felt he may have spurned his chances.
“I knew I had a good book of rides tonight. But I lost on a couple of horses I thought had a good chance, and now I probably have only one good chance left, in the last race (Vagabond),” said A’Isisuhairi, who is better known as Harry by the racing community.
“I’ve won four races before, both here and in New Zealand. So I was really looking for five tonight, but you never know, I may still be able to pull it off with some luck.”
The New Zealand-trained A’Isisuhairi, who has struck a successful relationship with Shaw this year, said Casino King had a lot more petrol left in the tank compared to the last time he rode the Mugharreb four-year-old owned by Fred Crabbia.
“He was caught wide early last time out and couldn’t finish it off,” said A’Isisuhairi who has now ridden six winners for Shaw, including a previous win on Casino King last month.
“Tonight, the speed was just nice for him. He had cover and was always travelling well.
“He came out at the right time and when I asked him, he had plenty of petrol left whereas he had none last time.”