3 minute read

Champion jockey Vlad Duric booted home on Friday night his first winner since coming back from his Royal Ascot ride on Lim’s Cruiser two weeks ago.

At his first ride in England, the Australian finished unplaced (eighth) on the Stephen Gray-trained sprinter in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m) on June 22, but was not beaten that far off by Godolphin's Blue Point.

Duric rode at his first meetings back at his base last weekend, but could manage only two seconds (Beau Geste on Friday and Man Of Mystery on Sunday) as his best results from a small book of six rides all-up.

But the winning flair was right back one week later at his very first booking on Friday, OCEAN CROSSING, a galloper who was at his fourth time of asking with a debut second in a Maiden race over 1200m on February 3 as his best showing.

The two-time Singapore champion jockey, who currently tops the log with a comfortable margin, brought Ocean Crossing ($14) with a well-timed run to nab runaway leader and $13 favourite Grand Choice (Benny Woodworth) by a neck in the $20,000 Open Maiden race over 1200m.

Woodworth seemed to have taken the Daniel Meagher-trained son of Master Of Design off to an unassailable lead at the 300m, but Duric and Ocean Crossing had other ideas as the pair relentlessly whittled down the margin inside the last furlong.

With Grand Choice noticeably shortening stride inside the last 100m, it probably made Ocean Crossing's turn of foot look a little flattering, but Duric would not complain.

"He's a very genuine horse. He really wanted to win tonight," said Duric who was partnering the All Too Hard three-year-old for the first time.

"He was very well prepared. He had a few quiet trials and he ran a very good trial the other day, and I was happy to be on the horse tonight."

Duric was evidently pleased to be back in a place he last visited more than a month ago when he rang up a treble with Blue Hawaii, Time Lord and Jomo on June 1. The reason for the unusually long interval between wins for the ace rider was a three-day careless riding ban that saw him miss three Kranji race meetings, but returned just in time to ride in the UK.

"You can't put a price to the experience in England. It was great to see how things are done there," he said.

"It was wonderful to go away as well. It was a bit of a holiday to be honest – you need a break as you can't be at the top of your game all the time."

Raced by the Hong Kong-based Lucky Unicorn Stable, Ocean Crossing has made around $16,000 in prizemoney, an amount which is likely to swell further going with the smart way he opened his Kranji account on Friday.

Duric went on to score a hat-trick of wins when he took out the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1700m with Official ($31), and the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1400m aboard Real Success ($20) in the Lucky Last, both for trainer Michael Clements.