Reigning horse of the year Lim’s Kosciuszko turned in a winning trial run on Thursday morning and looked all set for the $400,000 Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) on Sunday week.
The pride of trainer Daniel Meagher’s stable had prevailed at all his three starts in Group races this year, including his last romp in the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) on May 20.
The 2022 Lion City Cup winner won his second and final hit-out in a quick time of 1 min 0.22secs on Thursday. His fellow runners included Lion City Cup nominees Golden Monkey, Super Salute and Mr Malek.
While the win did not surprise, the manner in which the six-year-old son of Kermadec won did had tongues wagging. Under a hard hold by race jockey Wong Chin Chuen, he easily held off Super Salute (Manoel Nunes) by half-a-length while Mr Malek (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) was further nosed out in third.
The 2023 Group 1 Singapore Derby winner, Golden Monkey, was ridden quietly and got to the line nicely under jockey Ronnie Stewart for an eye-catching eighth, but the attention were all on Lim’s Kosciuszko.
“That was as good as we could have hoped for,” said Meagher.
“It was his second trial as planned (first trial was on August 3 when he ran third to Illustrious), and while it wasn’t going to define him heading into the Lion City (Cup), it was a really good hit-out.
“I told (jockey) CC (Wong), ‘if you find yourself wide, just go forward and have an easy trial’, but how it panned out with him (Lim’s Kosciuszko) racing amongst them was perfect.
“He was under a hold throughout, but when the other horses came up on his inside and outside, he just trucked it.
“That’s what he needed given he hasn’t raced for three months, especially as this race is over 1200m. It (the trial) will switch him on.”
When Lim’s Kosciuszko took out the Lion City Cup last year, he did that after winning the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) four weeks prior.
This year, Meagher had to contend with a three-month spell between runs but he had adjusted the preparation accordingly.
“This was planned a long way out as there weren’t many races for him,” said the Australian conditioner of the four-time Group 1 winner.
“We gave him 10 days off and that’s the longest break he’s had. I originally thought two weeks, but he was raring to get back into work.
“It was a long gap between races so we just kept him ticking over. He had four gallops before his first trial and had another gallop before his trial today.
“Every race is a ‘grand final’ for him and obviously, he will go for the (Group 1) Raffles Cup (1600m) and the (Group 1) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) later this year.
“It’s a good progression for him, but if it’s a level playing field on Sunday, he should win. He’s the best horse in Singapore.”
The Raffles Cup and QEII Cup are the first and second Legs of the Singapore Triple Crown series and they will be held on September 23 and October 14 respectively. The prestigious race series will culminate with the third and final Leg, the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) run on November 11.
While Meagher was confident he had the best horse in the field, he remained respectful of the opposition; especially Golden Monkey.
“You’d have to respect horses like Mr Malek, but I’d probably rate Golden Monkey as the danger,” he continued.
“(Trainer) Tim (Fitzsimmons) has done an amazing job with him. We did it last year, but it was tough dropping back from the Derby distance (1800m) to six furlongs. Still, he (Golden Monkey) is a terrific horse.
“It’s not a big field we face next week (10 nominations), but it should be a great race.”
Of his 11 runners this Sunday, including Emergency Acceptor No. 1 Webster in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1200m) and EA No 2 Lim’s Zoom in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1000m), Meagher hoped that some of his ‘babies’ can improve with racing, including the lightly-raced five-year-old, Lim’s Fuji, in the $20,000 Maiden race over 1000m.
“It’s good to see Lim’s Fuji back racing,” he said.
“He had joint surgery and hasn’t raced since November last year. He has ability and while a couple of (trainer) Richard’s (Lim) looks hard to beat (Magic Master and Grand Supreme), he (Lim’s Fuji) should go okay and will get better.
“Lim’s Sarbach on debut (in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden Division 1 race over 1200m) and Lim’s Faber at his second start (in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden Division 2 race over 1200m) will both improve with racing.”
By Larry Foley, Singapore Turf Club
