3 minute read

With only two race meetings left to the Singapore season, to most racing pundits, the three premierships are all done and dusted, but if there is one which may still set the stage for a most improbable but still feasible late turnaround, it’s the jockeys’.

Though a reversal is mathematically still within the realms of possibility in the other two, Michael Clements (trainer) and Simon Kok Wei Hoong (apprentice jockey) are so far ahead that the odds are seriously stacked against their second-placed pursuers, even if 'tis the season to believe in miracles.

But with eight winners separating Singapore champion jockey Vlad Duric from his brazen Brazilian challenger Ruan Maia on the jockeys' log, the feat is a little bit more doable.

The bare minimum of winners Maia needs to clock up is nine – a tie would still see Duric rack up a fourth consecutive title given his far superior countback for seconds (56 against 41) – from a possible 20 races.

Make that 19 as he does not ride in Race 7 on Saturday, but that's on paper as of now, as last-minute pick-up rides can always give him a full card.

Still, the odds lengthen up significantly when you throw into the equation the likelihood Duric returns empty-handed in the next two meetings.

The mercurial Australian has one ride less than Maia this Saturday, but when you line them up head-to-head, the match-up of chances tends to be fairly even.

Duric has at least five solid chances in Special Ops, Shepherd's Hymn, Prime Time, Pennywise and newcomer Style, but Maia won't be outdone with his handy booking of Sky Eye, So Hi Class, Mr Showman, Global Kid and the much-hyped debutant Mini Force X.

Still, as the greyhound chasing the bunny, Maia is the one on the back foot and hence has a bigger fight on his hands if he is to bridge the gap, which the plucky Parana (same town Joao Moreira hails from) native might see as wide as the outstretched arms of Rio's Christ the Redeemer, but for those plumping for an epic battle going down to the wire, you can rest assured the two-time Macau champion jockey won't go down without a fight.

It's true that the sportsman in him has always played down any championship talks when he started to whittle down Duric's runaway lead from August, never making the title chase the be-all and end-all of his first year at Kranji, but now that the finish line tape is looming, one can sense he has put his game face on.

"It's going to be very difficult. I think I had the opportunity a few weeks ago, but I didn't ride many winners, I had my chance, I blew it," said Maia.

"If I had ridden around five winners in the last two weeks, I would still have a chance, but now, no chance, I can't catch up.

"Still, I never give up. Let's see what happens after this meeting, then we'll know for sure if I have zero chance or the last meeting will be the decider.

"Like I've always said, winners are more important to me, I just want to try my best on every horse. I am very happy with my season, and I've been getting more and more support.

"This year was all about showing I can do my job, and next year, I'll build on that and hope to get even more support."

Whether or not we could hear undertones of a better shot at the title, one of those horses of the future who can give him the ammunition to that end may well be Mini Force X, a dual New Zealand Group 1-winner when known as Yourdeel (x Dundeel), who is making his Kranji debut for trainer Young Keah Yong and the Hong Kong Bloodstock Stable in the $70,000 Stepitup 2013 Stakes Class 3 race over 1200m on turf.

"I've worked him and rode him in two barrier trials. He's a good horse but he's not yet 100%, he may need the run," said Maia.

"I know he has a good record in New Zealand and in Australia where he also ran in Group races, but I think he needs more time and more distance.

"Still, I could see the quality when I rode him. He was very good in his last trial (November 24), there were a lot of speed horses and he ran on nicely behind them.

"He's a horse for next year for me."

One runner who is on the other hand an unknown quantity to him is his ride in the $150,000 Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1600m), the Lee Freedman-trained Super Dynasty.

The Fastnet Rock grey may not be the most consistent customer around, but Maia has done his homework and gives the six-year-old six-time winner a small chance of an upset.

"Mr Freedman booked me for the ride on this horse. I never rode him in a race and I haven't ridden him in trackwork either," said Maia.

"It seems that his form came back in that Class 2 race over 1400m (won under Azhar Ismail on October 31), but he was disappointing at his last start (beat one home in a Class 3 race over 1600m on November 11). The wide draw didn't help, though.

"I believe he can run a good race, we'll see."

Maia has captured three Group races at his first season in Singapore, the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) and Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m), both aboard Aramaayo for Shane Baertschiger and recently the Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe (1200m) aboard the Cliff Brown-trained Boomba, but he will forever be remembered for his hit-and-run one-for-one winning ride aboard Circuit Land for Freedman in the Group 2 Chairman's Trophy (1600m) in early 2018.