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Jockey Bruno Queiroz took the top honours on Sunday’s meeting with a quartet of wins and also regained his lead on the current jockeys’ premiership.
The young Brazilian hoop has been locked in a fierce battle with five-time Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes for a while and was sitting in second with 38 wins while the latter led on 40 wins going into Sunday's races.
Lady Luck certainly smiled at Queiroz as he booted home a four-timer, including Windfall ($19) in the $30,000 Class 5 race (1200m) and Strike Gold ($15) in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1200m) for trainer Ricardo Le Grange, Onemorefortheroad ($19) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (1400m) for trainer James Peters and Gold Governor ($21) in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1400m) for trainer Tim Fitzsimmons.
With 42 wins on hand, Queiroz is now one ahead of Nunes, who scored a sole win atop Smart Star ($15) in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1600m) to bring his tally of wins to 41.
Among Queiroz' four wins, he probably had to hold his breath for the longest after Gold Governor took out the race. Celebrations were put on hold as connections had to wait longer than expected for the 'All Clear' sign to go up on the Astrovision before Gold Governor was eventually declared the winner.
The son of Vancouver was first over the line in a tight finish but it was alleged that Gold Governor shifted out and bumped Sousui twice over the final 100m and jockey Carlos Henrique fired in a protest which was subsequently dismissed.
In the drama-filled race, Jin Sakamoto (Marc Lerner) pinged the gates but Queiroz made his intentions clear on Gold Governor to push forward and lead on settling.
Meanwhile, $11 favourite Sousui sat one-back on the rails while a keen Grand Supreme (Saifudin Ismail) was also in the leading pack, albeit wide, when the field moved into the bend.
Upon turning into the straight, Gold Governor kicked strongly to lead outright, but Sousui then switched off his heels and looked a major threat at the 300m as he had only a length to make up.
Slowly but surely, the Steven Burridge-trained gelding made up ground and looked the winner at the crucial stages, but Gold Governor refused to lie down in the final furlong.
A final lunge by Sousui on the line made it interesting with only a short head separating the pair, but the drama had only began with the protest pending.
After the stewards' deliberations, the results stood with Southern Speed (Jerlyn Seow) running on solidly to finish two-and-a-quarter lengths back in third.
The winning time was 1 min 22.78secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
With three months left at Kranji till the final meeting on 5 October, Queiroz would have been glad to take the lead anytime but he was just relieved the protest was dismissed.
"I was a bit worried when Carlos protested," said Queiroz, who also bagged four wins in Singapore on 21 October last year and 14 January this year.
"But we thought it would be okay when we watched the replay, so it was nice to win that race to give me a treble and then, my fourth win (Strike Gold) in the last race.
"It was a perfect day for me. My sister (Bianco) and girlfriend (Kemilly Rodrigues) were at the races too. They must have brought me good luck."
Not that Queiroz needed too much luck, given his confidence before the races.
"(Jockey) Bernardo (Pinheiro) is suspended, so I had some good rides from Ricardo," he said.
"Also after I trialled him (Onemorefortheroad), I said to James that he was improving and could win.
"We were also confident on Tim's horse (Gold Governor), so I thought it could be a good day but four winners and to be on top of the (jockeys') table is unbelievable.
"I have to thank the trainers and owners who supported me and hopefully, I can ride winners till the end of the season and have a good battle with Manoel."
Fitzsimmons, who took home a double on the day with Golden Monkey winning the $100,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m (see previous report), was confident of a good result for the Gold Stable.
"I honestly thought we had nothing to worry about," said the Australian conditioner regarding the objection.
"Both horses had every chance in my opinion but (trainer) Steven (Burridge) did put up a fair case, so I had to have my say.
"I was really happy for (owner) Eugene (Yong) and texted him right after the race, but he was enjoying his holiday with his family in South Africa.
"I told him last week that I had been training this horse (Gold Governor) wrongly. I thought he was a stayer but we changed things up and he showed that this is his trip.
"And I guess Ricardo had to text him (Yong) 30 minutes later after Strike Gold won the last (race). They are great owners and great people, so it's good for them to get a double."
Gold Governor's third win from 13 starts took his prizemoney to over $75,000 for connections.
