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In-form jockey Vlad Duric had to dig deep into his bag of tricks to urge the very wayward Battle King home in a driving finish on Monday.
The Australian jockey had a first glimpse of the Battle Paint four-year-old’s quirks at his last start when he loomed as a winner at the top of the straight only to run all over the shop to finish second to Big Man.
He came back telling trainer Leslie Khoo to leave him on board, as well as suggesting a slight change of headgear from blinkers to winkers, and he duly made amends.
Again, Duric was seen struggling with Battle King as they neared the home turn to lay their claim to the top prize. With the head swaying sideways, Battle King was wobbling around, barely complying with his rider’s desperate attempts to get him to shoot Lika Tiger (Kanichiro Fujii) down in the most direct path to the line.But Duric did not let up on his reluctant mount who rewarded his perseverance with a last lunge on the line to get his head in front of Lika Tiger.
“He’s not an easy horse to ride. He gave me a tough time last time and it was no better today,” said Duric.
“But that’s the advantage of having prior knowledge of a horse. It probably made the difference today.
“He’s looking to stay. All credit to Leslie for having done a good job on this horse.”
Khoo returned the compliment to the jockey, saying that the horse belonging to the same owners as his stable star Fastnet Dragon, Madam Zhao Song, needed a strong rider like Duric.
“He’s a horse with plenty of ability but he’s so hard to ride. From where he was at the top of the straight, he should have won by a bigger margin,” said the Singaporean conditioner.
“That’s why I got Vlad to ride him again. He needs strong handling and Vlad is the one who won the race.
“From the way he ran, it looks like he needs more ground.”
The win has taken Duric to only two wins shy of the currently suspended Manoel Nunes (29 versus 31) while Battle King was at his second win from nine starts for stakes earnings around the $75,000 for connections.
