Apprentice jockey Clyde Leck was a man in a hurry after he quickly landed his first win in Singapore aboard May in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race (1100m) at his second ride on Sunday.
Fresh off three wins for his trainer-father Charles, including his first Group 1 win on board Berry Bliss in the Penang Sprint Trophy (1400m) at Penang Turf Club last Sunday, the 24-year-old Singaporean rider has decided to come home to kick-start his five-month stint in Singapore this Sunday after two years of riding in Malaysia.
Leck’s first ride on the Jerome Tan-trained Sacred Icon pulled up a long last in the opener, but the 2022 Malaysia champion jockey and apprentice jockey made amends slightly half an hour later.
Trained by Donna Logan, three-year-old newcomer May, and a few other debutants played up a bit behind the gates before the start, but Leck was focused on his mission of pinging the gates and taking up the bunny’s role despite the delayed start.
300m into the race, the fleet-footed Toh Guan Treasure (Koh Teck Huat) took over the lead, with May and Super Pan Swiftly (Manoel Nunes) sitting outside him and Commander Jones (Krisna Thangamani) in close attendance behind.
Turning for home, Toh Guan Treasure and May ($24) began their two-horse race to the line after Super Pan Swiftly and Commander Jones slowly dropped out. The son of Sweynesse doggedly fought back at the 200m under Leck’s urgings to regain his lead albeit Toh Guan Treasure showed no signs of going away.
The two traded blows for a brief moment until May took the upper hand at the 50m before posting a half-length win in the end. Royal Commission (Bruno Queiroz) stormed home another three lengths away to run third.
The winning time was 1 min 5.94secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
It was a hard-fought win for Leck but no one could wipe the smile off his face after he got off the mark in Singapore, and incidentally, his first win on the all-weather surface as well.
“Everyone (family members) is watching me from home, but I’m very happy with my first win in Singapore,” said the 24-year-old apprentice jockey, who had Joseph Leck, cousin and assistant-trainer to Kok, the first to go up and congratulate him after he weighed in.
“I rode him in trackwork on Wednesday and he felt great. I thought he had a chance to win, so I just followed the instructions and everything went well.
“My instruction was to jump and hit the front or be in a forward position. I scrubbed him up out of the gates and the moment we got in front, we settled nicely.
“I saw horses coming from outside (Toh Guan Treasure and Super Pan Swiftly) but I did not panic too much, just let him have it easy while I saved him up a little.
“Eventually, I tracked the leader one-off and into the straight, I went on him a bit earlier and he responded well.
“He was still a bit green because he just turned three (on August 1), so he was hanging in a little and it was a bit risky. I don’t want my horse to check the other horse, so I made sure to straighten him up.”
Logan, who was off to a flier with an early double on Sunday after Elliot Ness ($11) also scored in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (1100m) in the first race, was happy with Leck’s ride but felt even more relieved to bring good news to May’s sick breeder, Gary Alton.
“He (May) came with very good form from New Zealand. I bought him from a very good friend of mine, Gary Alton,” said the Kiwi handler of her 22nd winner this season.
“He’s a small breeder and he’s got Parkinson’s Disease, but this win will give him a big cheer.
“It’s good to know that he’s (May) been given all the opportunities and not pushed too hard early.
“Clyde’s father (Charles) messaged me to ask if I had any rides for him. He’s (Clyde) got a very good reputation of getting horses out of the gates and he’s a champion jockey from Malaysia, so his stats spoke for themselves.
“I was very worried about the barrier (eight), but he (Clyde) got him out of the gates nicely.
“Congratulations to the Falcon Racing (No 7) Stable. They are very good supporters of our stable and I’m proud to be able to buy a nice horse and get good results for them.
“First, it was (Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint winner) January and now this horse. Hopefully this gives them more confidence in us.
“I’ve had a good association with them and all credit to my team of staff who has worked extremely hard and are very professional.
“We’ll see how he (May) pulls up because he got kicked in the stomach prior to the start. Considering that, he did exceptionally well.”
With his debut win, May has earned more than $40,000 in prizemoney for connections.
By Sharon Zhang, Singapore Turf Club
