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Former Chris Waller charge Solo Sun gave both trainer Desmond Koh and jockey Alan Munro a much-needed fillip in the $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race (1800m) on Sunday.
Both men have not been having their photos taken too often at the winner’s box of late. Koh’s last winner was Million Round on June 15, while Munro had not found the line since Gloria Eclipse on June 22.
The pair doesn’t combine all that often either – their last success together came with My Reach on October 18, 2015 – but Solo Sun popped up at the right moment to bring the smiles back on their faces.
After three warm-up runs from 1200m to 1800m, the So You Think five-year-old, who was known as Solo Heart and won one race (1600m) at Cranbourne for Waller, was totally dominant shortly after he cut a path back to the inside at the 300m.
Once the $33 shot found clear galloping room along the rails, the issue soon became a foregone conclusion. Solo Sun quickened away to greet the judge by 2 ¼ lengths from Matsuribayashi (Daniel Moor) with Little Master (Craig Grylls) third another 1 ¾ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 48.35secs for the 1800m on the Long Course.
“He’s a nice horse. Not too big, just the right size for a stayer,” said Koh.
“We gave him three runs to get his mileage up, to get his air up to last the distance, and he did it very well today.
“It’s been pretty quiet for us this year, but things are moving in the right direction. The horses are coming through and I’m confident we will have a better finish.
“A big thank you to Mr Cheng (Ting Kong) who has been a loyal supporter of mine in the last three to four years. I think he found himself a nice horse in this one.”
Munro was at his first association with Solo Sun, but said he already had an idea of his potential in the morning.
“I’ve been riding him in trackwork, and I like him a lot,” said the English jockey.
“What I really like about him is the way he stretches. He definitely has an engine.
“He’s still very new to racing and will get even better as he matures further.”
A stakes winner of more than A$20,000 in Australia, Solo Sun has already earned close to $50,000 with that maiden Kranji win.
