3 minute read

For someone who has won a Caulfield Cup, Australian jockey Vlad Duric was a man overwhelmed with emotion as he weighed in after a lowly Kranji Stakes D race that normally does not give way to such celebratory post-race reactions.

Not to mention his mount Gold Crown actually dead-heated with another horse (Know Each Other trained by Patrick Shaw), a situation that often dampens the mood at the best of times, regardless of what may be said.

But Duric had a very valid reason to be feeling like he had just hit the jackpot. The Cliff Brown-trained Gold Crown’s win was his first Kranji win since his last aboard Red Beard on November 13, 2011.

The Australian rider returned home soon after only to be relicensed in Singapore four years later for two months from February to March 2016. Given the short window period he had been given to prove himself, Duric was in a hurry to get that 215th Singapore winner behind him sooner rather than later.

After his first four rides on Friday fired blanks, the Victorian jockey was hoping for better results from better rides on Sunday, but was left with a few doubts haunting him after favourite Murrayfield was well beaten.

“I was feeling down after Murrayfield lost. I thought he was my best chance for the day, but he never responded and was very disappointing,” said Duric.

“But I’m so happy this horse (Gold Crown) has won. It makes me very emotional here (as he thumped his heart with a clenched fist) as Singapore has always been a very special place for me.

“The win itself was pretty straightforward. I led at a decent tempo and when he got a little tired in the end, I threw everything at him and I was happy to share the win.

“It feels so good to be back.”

If there was any bittersweet taste lingering after that welcome-back win which he had to share with someone else (Mohd Firdaus, Know Each Other’s rider), Duric didn’t show it, certainly not after he was able to celebrate on his own two races later.

A five-year-old by Dane Shadow, the Stephen Gray-trained Pusaka ($21) was buried away on the rails for most of the $60,000 Class 4 race over 1800m before he emerged at the 300m under the power of Duric to defeat Higher Soul (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) by half-a-length. Air Force One (John Powell) finished third another three-quarter length away. Pusaka was bringing up win No 3 for Indonesian owners Dago Stable and recorded the winning time of 1min 49.28secs for the 1800m on the Long Course.

Duric’s grin just got a little wider and there were no prizes for guessing why.