3 minute read

A good old relationship between two Britons was rekindled to winning effect when trainer David Hill and jockey Alan Munro combined to claim Race 5 with John Of Arch on Friday night.

Hill, who last trained in Hong Kong before he relocated at Kranji in 2006, was one of Munro's regular supporters during the time the English Derby-winning jockey plied his trade in the former British colony.

When Munro came to ride in Singapore mid-July, Hill knew he had a safe pair of hands to count on but told himself he would only give his compatriot a leg-up when a “good 'un” came along.

That's what old mates do - and Munro certainly reciprocated in the best way when Hill singled out John Of Arch as a worthy ride for the visiting British jockey.

“Alan is a fantastic rider and he's won many races for me in Hong Kong,” said Hill.

“When I found out he was coming here to ride, I knew I had to give him rides, but I told myself it had to be decent rides.

“You don't want these guys to go around wasting their time on bad horses.”

While Hill thought seven-year-old John Of Arch (x Testa Rossa), a previous seven-time winner and handy moneyspinner of around $343,000 for the All Star Stable, was the ideal conveyance for Munro, he was quick to point out such quality horseflesh would have been made redundant in the wrong hands - not without a hint of patriotic bias.

“You could see how talented he was inside the last furlong,” said Hill. “The horse was hanging in but he pulled the stick through to hit him on the left.

“Not many jockeys can do that, but that's what British jockeys are trained to do. They can use the stick in both hands.

“The horse was down in class and all I told Alan tonight was to ride him more forward than usual. For a horse he's never ridden before, he's done an amazing job.”

The $38 shot took up a handy spot in the $55,000 Class 4 race over 1600m on Polytrack, and when runaway leader Flaneur (Joseph See) eased down the pace at the 900m, Munro allowed him to roll forward to sit second outside Yes We Can (John Powell).

John Of Arch kept up the momentum to swing for home as the one to run down inside the last 400m. When favourite Takis (Barend Vorster) was peeled out for his run at the 300m, the final outcome looked a foregone conclusion.

The Patrick Shaw-trained galloper levelled up with John Of Arch on his outside, but the tide turned again as soon as Munro pulled his whip through to give his mount a quick reminder that the job was not done yet.

John Of Arch got back on an even keel and started to peg back the favourite with every stride to reclaim the lead and go and score by half-a-length. Vaya Condios (Vlad Duric), who loomed up as a threat at one stage, could not go on with the job to settle for third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 40.01secs.

Munro, who was at his second Kranji win after he opened his account with Bombaata on July 31, was grateful for the “good ride” from Hill for old times' sake.

“I've known David for a long time and it's nice of him to give me a good ride like this one,” said Munro who is licensed to ride at Kranji until the end of September.

“He did hang in a bit but you know he's an old horse. He was good enough in this class.”