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Trainer Steven Burridge praised apprentice jockey Salim Yusoff for a well-judged ride aboard Hermano Menor after the strapping galloper returned to winning ways on Sunday.
The Duporth five-year-old has been hitting around the mark for a while, but had somehow found the winning post rather elusive – since July 12, 2015 - finishing in the money at his last three races, sometimes even throwing the race away with a wayward run in the concluding stages.
It looked like Hermano Menor was heading that way again when the $21 joint-favourite (with Big Man), who led narrowly with Sun Empire (Wong Chin Chuen) on his inside, seemed to get weary-legged down that Long Course, which did not seem to have any end.
Salim, who just returned from a one-month suspension for allowing Luminiff Lad (also prepared by Burridge) to run “unreasonable sectionals” in the early part of a race on September 18, was riding for dear life as his mount lugged in and out while plodding down the last 200m of the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1400m, desperate to stay on top all the way to the line.
Iking (Manoel Nunes) closed in menacingly on his nearside while Solaris Spectrum (Syafiq Hazman) was also chiming in on the outside, but in the end, Hermano Menor snuck in by one length from Iking, with Solaris Spectrum third, separated by the same margin.
The winning time was 1min 22.87secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
“Salim rode him very well considering they were left in front for so long,” said Burridge.
“He’s a very good rider, but unfortunately, we’ve not been able to use him lately as he was suspended for a while.
“The horse is so consistent, but has probably reached his mark. Today, he just got there, and it’s great for his owner Masa Otani, who has been a great supporter of the stable, as well as Hideyuki Takaoka’s.
“He had Black Swan who was the favourite in the first race, but he keeps running second and third.”
Salim said he thought Hermano Menor was running out of steam in the last 200m, but somehow managed to summon up his last drops of petrol to hit home first for his fifth success in 22 starts.
“I’ve ridden this horse before, and today, I wanted him to be up there early as he is one-paced,” said the Malaysian rider.
“He’s got a short burst and I didn’t want to go too soon on him, and I also know he’s shown a tendency to hang in close home a few times.
“But he was hanging out today, and I had to bring him back in, but luckily, he showed a lot of courage to go all the way. I think he was waiting for something to come chasing him.“I have to thank Mr Burridge and the owner for putting me on this horse. I also have to thank my boss, David Kok for all his support.”
Hermano Menor has now brought his total takings close to the $340,000 mark for Otani’s Big Valley Stable.