3 minute read
Luckless at some of her runs, Diamond Beauty finally found the splits at the right time to register her first local win at odds on Friday night.
The four-year-old Toorak Toff mare came to Singapore with a record of two wins (1200m and 1300m) from 10 starts in Australia where she was trained by Matt Laurie at Mornington, but the Kranji winning post had proven elusive in seven starts.
Either she was checked or she blew the start with a tardy getaway, but the way she always made ground at the business end was indicative of ability.
This time around, the Lucky Stable-owned mare enjoyed a sweet run on the rails in the first two-thirds of the 1400m journey of the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 event, but trouble didn't look like it would be leaving her side when she again ran into traffic in the home straight.
Held up between weakening horses like So Hi Class (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) and Super Speed (Mohd Zaki), she looked a certainty beaten at the 300m.
A ray of hope appeared when she could thread a needle through, but she then came up on the heels of even-money favourite Inherit (Azhar Ismail) and My Boss (Benny Woodworth).
Obviously, the momentum had fizzled out a touch, but when those two horses rolled off, jockey Juan Paul van der Merwe still had Diamond Beauty on the bridle as they darted through the opening.
Van der Merwe took a glance behind, and knew right away the mare's first Singapore win was all stitched up.
Mystic Pride (Chin Chee Seng) ran second 1 ¾ lengths away with Optimum Star (Wong Chin Chuen) third another half-length away. The winning time was 1min 22.22secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
"She deserves to win, she's always thereabouts," said winning trainer Cliff Brown.
"She had no luck again at her last start, and tonight, she drew wide (11). It's extraordinary the amount of times our horses have drawn out this year.
"But the most important is she won a race tonight. Credit to JP who rode her well, he's a lovely guy and I wish him every success.
"It's also good for the Lucky Stable and Richard See (racing manager)."
Van der Merwe has been combining more often with Brown of late and with stable jockey Michael Rodd skipping Friday's meeting to be at Moonee Valley to ride Debt Agent (ex-Debt Collector) in the Group 2 Schweppes Crystal Mile on Saturday, it was a golden opportunity for the South African rider to fill in and add a second victory for the Australian after Lonhro Gold three weeks ago.
"I wanted to ride her cold and we got a beautiful position off the rails. I thought to myself it couldn't get any better than that," said van der Merwe, whose lacklustre earlier first half of the season has slowly ebbed around with that third win for the month, and ninth overall.
"She was always going well, the pace was nice. I was actually hoping they would go better than that.
"But then, I battled to get a clear run in the straight, but when she did eventually get a clear run, she quickened up nicely."
A stakes winner of around A$40,000 in Australia, Diamond Beauty has almost matched that haul with her maiden success at Kranji – around $50,000 amassed in seven starts that have also yielded two seconds for the Lucky Stable.
