Trainer David Kok literally had “Lady Luck” by his side on Saturday after the first of his three runners, City Gold Telecom, on the day saluted in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race (1200m) to hand him his 300th win in Singapore.
The Ipoh-born Singaporean handler, who began training at Kranji 14 years ago, kept tab of his wins and knew that the big 300th milestone win was approaching after Real Efecto won two weeks ago.
He brought his wife, Irene, to the races last Saturday too, but none of his seven runners scored, albeit Pacific Gold came close with a third in the Class 4 Division 2 race (1400m). This time, however, the happy couple were beaming at the winner’s enclosure as they led in City Gold Telecom together with owners from the City Gold Stable.
“I brought her (Irene) here because I know my 300th win is coming,” said Kok after the race.
“I want to thank all my owners for supporting me through all these years, even through the Covid-19 period when it was difficult. I also want to thank all my staff who worked hard.”
Owned by Hong Kong connections, City Gold Telecom was second-up after his debut second in a similar race on June 11 and the plucky three-year-old son of Sebring overcame the odds to win under four-time Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes.
After breaking from barrier 10, the Brazilian hoop cleverly cut across and tucked City Gold Telecom in between runners near the back while Cash King (Mohd Zaki) spearheaded the field of 12.
Rounding the bend, Nunes carefully maneuvered the $9 favourite towards the outside but once the pair began their final assault to the line, he had to pull the persuader on City Gold Telecom, who had the tendency to lay in in the straight.
Cash King valiantly held on to the lead, but Tantheman (Benny Woodworth) and City Gold Telecom were descending thick and fast, with the latter ultimately getting the upper hand by a head from Tantheman, who has yet to open his account in eight starts.
Cash King finished another neck away in third. The winning time was 1 min 10.37secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
Kok deflected the credit to Nunes after City Gold Telecom drew a bad barrier.
“He’s (City Gold Telecom) a straightforward horse and I was confident about the win, but the only thing was that he got an outside gate (10), so I told Nunes to drop him back and take a seat,” said Kok, whose first winner was First Avenue on September 13, 2009.
“The pace was fast, somemore it was on the ‘D’ course, so it’s tight and only a good jockey can do that. Nunes rode a very good race.
“He (City Gold Telecom) lost a bit of balance when Benny (on Tantheman) came close.
“He can go over more ground. I will look for a nice handicap race that’s suitable for him.”
Nunes, who bagged a four-timer on Saturday after he also won on Opunake ($11) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (1100m) in the opener, Akhtar ($7) in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1100m) and Smoke And Mirrors ($17) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (1400m) for trainer Jason Ong, reckoned the strapping chestnut was still a work in progress but agreed with Kok’s views.
“It was the plan to go behind because of the wide barrier,” said the current leading jockey on 54 wins this year.
“I trialled him before, but he’s big (550kgs) and he still has a lot to learn. He wore the shadow roll and earmuffs because he can get his head high up.
“He hung in just now. I was following Marc (Lerner on Lightning Strike) in the run and the gap came up, so we moved in. He was also bumped in the straight and that affected him for a moment.
“He can go over more ground like the 1400m.”
City Gold Telecom’s first win in two starts in Singapore has taken his earnings to over $50,000 in prizemoney for his connections.
By Sharon Zhang, STC
