3 minute read
Trainer Desmond Koh had an interesting spin on frontrunners after Sun Empire made every post a winning one on Friday night.
The Singaporean handler has now saddled the Casino Prince five-year-old to five wins, all recorded by dictating terms upfront. To him, there were no two ways about where the bay’s strongest suit is – and he wished he had more of such prototypes in his barn as they have one thing going for them: They stay out of trouble.
“I like frontrunners as they are up there and don’t get stuck in traffic. Did you see how many horses had luckless runs behind him and he was well clear in front?” said the US-trained horseman.
“Whether we are owners, trainers or jockeys, we have plenty of horses and so many times we have had that ill-fated run where we got backed up in traffic.
“But frontrunners take that chance out of the equation. Sun Empire was a classic example tonight but I was a bit worried that he did not get such an easy journey upfront.
“He looked like he had a soft lead, but the other horses were nipping at his heels and pouring a bit of pressure on him. CC Wong (Chin Chuen) rated him very well and he still had a strong kick left in him in the end.
“But he’s got a proven record over 1400m. It’s his favourite trip and he’s done it again tonight.”
Raced by Macau businessman Cheng Ting Kong, Sun Empire has now brought his handy record to five wins and four placings for stakes earnings past the $170,000 mark.
Wong said he just listened to Koh’s instructions to bustle Sun Empire up early from his middle draw and grab the lead, and then not allow anyone to close in on him midrace as he then tends to drop the bundle.
“The trainer told me to go and lead and not let the other horses come close to him,” said the Malaysian apprentice jockey.
“He told me he runs differently if he has another horse beside him. I think I was able to do that while giving him a fairly soft lead at the same time.
“Turning for home, I let him go and he gave me plenty. I think the fact I was able to keep a ‘line guard’ on the rest paved the way to the win tonight.”
When Wong views the replay of the last 400m, he will probably also thank his lucky stars there was little galloping room among the gaggle of chasers battling to catch him inside the last 400m - and the winning post arrived on time.
As the field spread out upon straightening, favourite Millennium’s Rule (Vlad Duric) looked caught in a pocket, Davinci (Corey Brown) was caught behind the eight ball and Northern Knight (Olivier Placais) was probably the hardest done by in the frenzy as he had to squeeze through a needlehole to see daylight.
Davinci (Corey Brown) looked like he could still upstage Sun Empire when he finally got out to lunge along the rails inside the last 50m, but Sun Empire hung on grimly to outlast him by a neck with Nazir (Shafiq Rizuan), who had every chance, half-a-length away in third, just holding off stablemate Northern Light by a neck.
Backed down to second favouritism ($18), Sun Empire ran the 1400m on the Short Course in 1min 23.6secs.