3 minute read

Trainer Jerome Tan can only smile when he hears the incessant ribbing over his “Group 1 horse” ever since First Chief walked into his stable last August.

The second-year Singaporean conditioner, himself a good-natured bloke, can take the harmless banter.

It is a fact that on 64,First Chief  is the highest-rated horse he had ever registered at Kranji. Bright Almighty (67) and Mig Pierro (66) are ahead, but they have risen through the ranks after kicking off with lower ratings.

Tan's stable boxes had thus far been filled out by mostly second-hand stock of modest ability, albeit a haul of 15 winners at his rookie season is a clear indication the former Penang-based handler can train.

But Tan is shrugging off all the hype around his newcomer, who is raced by the same Hong Kong owner of Mig Pierro, Mr Chen Ching Lung. To him, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Besides, the five-year-old by Fastnet Rock, who was known as Cao Cao before, does not boast a flawless record.

If anything, his Australian and Hong Kong careers are like night and day.

"He had solid form in Australia from 1000m to 1400m, but his form in Hong Kong was horrendous, always near last except for one third in nine starts," said Tan.

"I'm not sure what happened. Maybe he didn't handle the Hong Kong way of going (right-handed), at least I can only hope that's the reason.

"I can only hope he will reproduce his Melbourne form."

At his first hunting ground, First Chief nearly got off with a bang. He ran second on debut in the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) at headquarters in Flemington. All up, he eventually won two races from 13 starts in Australia for Caulfield trainer Mick Price, a 1000m race at Moonee Valley and a 1400m race at Caulfield (beating Mark Walker's Barbeque in third place). Top jockey Mark Zahra was aboard at both wins.

He was then exported to Hong Kong, where his racing career, however, nosedived. After eight starts where he finished at the rear for new handler Tony Millard, he finally finished on the board when third in a 1000m dash at Happy Valley on June 26, 2019.

Redemption had come too late. His ticket to Kranji had already been booked.

Somehow, Tan would like to think that late spark was not put out when he moved to his third office, going with his forwardness on the training tracks.

But all of that might have ended in tragedy before it even got a chance to start.

"He's been working well. He also trialled well (one win and one second), but you can't get too excited with that as he was not running against very strong horses," said Tan.

"(Jockey) Marc (Lerner) galloped him on Saturday. He's drawn one, and I hope the horse can reproduce the same trial form and live up to our expectations on Sunday.

"But I would like to first thank (Singapore Turf Club veterinary surgeon) Dr Brenda Low for having saved his life. After he just arrived, he had a colic attack one night and Dr Brenda was the vet on standby duty that night.

"Even though it was 1am and it was raining heavily, she came down and stayed by his side all night. He eventually recovered."

Lerner agreed with Tan that First Chief was a risky proposition on his lacklustre Hong Kong record, but on what he has shown in his workouts, he was keeping an open mind.

"His Hong Kong form is not strong at all, but he has shown encouraging form in trackwork and his barrier trials here," said the French jockey who returns from a six-meeting suspension for careless riding this Sunday.

"We have to see how he will fare in his races here. The Hong Kong formline is a big question mark, but fingers crossed, he runs more according to his trial form."