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Malaysian-born jockey Soo Khoon Beng celebrated his 40th birthday in style after booting home impressive three-year old Super Winner to a win in the $60,000 Open Benchmark 67 race over 1000m at Kranji on Sunday.
The Theo Kieser-trained Super Winner boasted two wins and one second from his three previous starts, all with Soo as the regular partner on board. Super Winner had shown ability on the tracks, finishing second behind 3YO superstar Affleck in the Premier Racing Partnerships Stakes Open (first leg of More Magic 3YO Championship series) over 1200m in September, before going on to score in a Novice race last month.
The son of Kaphero sprang out from the widest barrier and settled into a midfield position, while mare Origin Fast (Alan Munro) led the small field of eight. Settled outside the leader, hot $8 favourite Ami (John Powell) was launched for his run upon straightening.
Origin Fast held strongly on the rails, and was locked in a wrestle with Ami for a fleeting moment. Shortly after, Ami, however, put his head in front, but $13 shot Super Winner came accelerating on the outside under Soo’s urgings, to beat Ami by half-a-length. Origin Fast finished another one-and-a-half-lengths away in third.
The winning time on the Polytrack was a smart 59.86seconds.
Soo is currently on 16 winners on the jockey premiership table, with his last win aboard Darci Charmer a month ago. He has had a pretty successful partnership with Kieser, with a total of seven wins for him this season, including the victory in the Group 3 Patiti Gold Trophy with Goal Keeper.
A happy Soo commented that Super Winner had improved from his past runs, and looked to have overcome his greenness, but should not be stepped up in distance any time soon.
“He was very green in the past, but I would say he is no longer like that, he is very good now," said Soo who has always seen his birthday as his “lucky day”.
“This horse has good speed, and even though he has got a wide barrier today, I still tried to go forward.
“He may go up to a mile in future, but not now as he is still young.
“It’s a lucky day for me! And I am very happy for the owners and this horse too.”
Kieser was all praise for the big-hearted Super Winner, but was quick to admit that he only ran the horse in this race due to the cancellation of a Graduation race this weekend, and the thought of winning was not high.
“This horse has a big heart, he always does his best in races," said Kieser.
“I’d planned to put him in a Graduation race initially, but it was scrapped, so I put him in this race instead, which was not ideal.
“This is a strong field, and he has a bad gate, so I thought he might have a chance in the top three, but was not positive of him winning.
“He is a sprinter, and at this stage, I would keep him to 1000 to 1200m.”
Super Winner already boasts a handy record of three wins and one second from four starts, earning close to $140,000 in prizemoney for owner Soh Seng Lye.
