3 minute read
Japanese stayer Star Jack returned to winning ways after outslugging his rivals in his typical tradesmanlike style on Saturday.
Unsuccessful for 19 months, the Jungle Pocket seven-year-old didn't actually give the impression he could break the stalemate at the 400m of the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1800m on Polytrack.
If his paltry track record on the all-weather was anything to go by, it came as no surprise he looked to be making heavy weather of it even though jockey Marc Lerner was throwing everything at him bar the kitchen sink.
At his 27 previous starts at Kranji, Star Jack ventured only once on the Polytrack, beating two home in a mile race in November.
Trainer Hideyuki Takaoka, however, was unfazed by that one failure. With turf races not back before March 20, the Japanese mentor stood nothing to lose in retesting his firm conviction Star Jack was not entirely hopeless on Poly.
He was well rewarded for his faith in the gutsy horse. With Lerner not letting up on his efforts inside the last furlong, the $165 chance rose from a runner-up chance at best to winning material from a blanket finish that involved four runners.
The lactic acid had probably reached its peak, but Star Jack kept plodding away, lunging at the line to just land the spoils by a short head.
Mark Walker's last-start winner Mustengo (Hakim Kamaruddin) earned second place, a head from stablemate Axel (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui), who himself just nosed Luck Of Master (Vlad Duric) out of the frame. The winning time was 1min 51.56secs for the 1800m on Polytrack.
"I think it's the distance (that helped him win again). There aren't many long-distance races around," said Takaoka, a four-time Singapore Gold Cup winner.
"Star Jack is a pure stayer, but his record on Polytrack wasn't good. In Japan, he ran on dirt, but it was a "nothing" result!
"Here, he raced once on Polytrack, but it was over 1600m which is too short for him. So, I thought let's just try a second time, it should be okay."
It was, even if Lerner had to earn every cent of his riding fee to get Star Jack home.
"On class, he was the best horse in the race. He ran second to I'm Incredible in the Group 3 El Dorado Classic Stakes (2000m) in 2019," said the avid form student.
"I also know he has stamina and I thought that was the best opportunity to get him back on track. On paper, he had a chance even if most thought he was an outsider.
"He's always been consistent in such races and his endurance paid off in the end. I'm very happy Takaoka's horses are starting to come back to form after they went through a dry spell.
"Star Jack is just one of these horses starting the Takaoka revival. He was very brave to the line."
In 28 starts, Star Jack has now won four races and placed seven times for stakes earnings in excess of the $240,000 mark for the Star Jack Stable.
