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Elusive City mare Lim’s Affection thrived on a short five-day back-up to punch in a brilliant win in the $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1600m on Friday.
Trainer Steven Burridge decided to have another roll of the dice with the Lim’s Stable-owned galloper after her fast-closing second to Murrayfield in the last race on Sunday, a BM67 race over the mile as well.
The mare had pulled up well enough and with no suitable races for her for a while to come, Burridge saw no reason why not have another crack.
The manner in which Lim's Affection pulled away after not getting off to the most ideal of runs in transit certainly vindicated the Australian.From her good gate in No 2, the original plan was to plot a ground-saving run in second on the rails, but the tightly-bunched seven-horse field saw the $18 shot’s young rider Salim Yusoff restrain her, incidentally giving room for Imperial March (Barend Vorster) to kick up on the inside.
Stablemate High Blade (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) was the pilot, but for some reason, also strayed off the rails at the 800m mark, putting Lim’s Affection in a sticky spot caught between a rock and a hard place while Chase (Olivier Placais) was even worse off after he got trapped four deep, with Iking (Manoel Nunes) also in close attendance.
The race invariably turned into a sprint home inside the last two furlongs, and it was Salim who was fastest to pull the trigger, digging up his mount as they approached the home turn to be the first to swing for the judge.
Chase also got into hot pursuit while favourite Squire Osbaldeston (Vlad Duric), who had been switched off at the rear from the start, was sneaking his way through the field, coveting a passage to the inside.
But Lim’s Affection was still firing on all cylinders upfront, and actually sprinted away to go and post a dominant win, just under two lengths from Chase, who under Placais’ persuader, just edged Squire Osbaldeston out of second place by a nose. The winning time was 1min 35.71 secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.
“The kid rode her well, although not quite the way we wanted,” said Burridge.
“We wanted him to settle behind the leader, but he did not panic and made the right decision to go early.
“This mare bled a couple of times, and at one stage, she made us wonder what to do with her, but she has come good and she was very gutsy tonight.
“She is talented but as it is with bleeders like her, we don’t know how many more races she can go for.
“We backed her up tonight because it was a suitable race and there were no other races for her in the near future. Salim rode her a treat, but I think the claim of three kilos also helped.”
The Malaysian lad acknowledged that big advantage, but added that the mare also won on merit and should visit the winner’s circle a few more times.
“I’ve never ridden her before but the connections told me how I should ride her. Settle her behind the lead and wait for the last 200m,” said David Kok’s apprentice jockey who was at his only ride for the night.
“But things didn’t quite work out, and I had to get going early. I know she was fit and I went home early to make the others catch us, but she never weakened.
“I’d like to thank Mr Burridge and the Lim’s Stable for such a good ride. I won on Lim’s Sincere for them two weeks ago and hopefully, I’ll get more support from them.”
With that third win, Lim’s Affection had brought her stakes earnings just a tick under the $150,000 mark for the in-form Lim’s Stable.