3 minute read
Top sprinter Lim’s Lightning giving weight all round while coming back from a two-month break did give trainer Daniel Meagher some legitimate concerns, but the ease of the win in Sunday’s $100,000 Kranji Stakes A race (1400m) quickly allayed them.
The Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) winner last raced on June 19 when he despatched seven rivals in an identical race to Sunday's.
The Lope De Vega six-year-old has since been sighted at a couple of barrier trials, not asked to break any record, but Meagher was obviously satisfied with his overall condition to throw him into a race that de facto was a practice test towards a higher quality target, the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) on September 18.
After Lim's Lightning ($9) tracked leader Fame Star (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) from the start before breezing past the 2019 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy winner at the 250m en route to a rousing 2 ¼-length win for regular partner Danny Beasley, Meagher can already start drawing up the workload towards that next target - and then some.
"He'll go to the Raffles Cup in four weeks' time, and we may even look at the QEII Cup," said the Australian handler in reference to the next major after the Raffles Cup, the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) on October 16.
"He's had two runs over the mile for a second and a third. He was not fully screwed down then, not at his top, he's a little older in his preparation now, and looked a bit better today and that will bring him along.
"I wouldn't say he is still learning, but he's definitely more confident now, and it's a real credit to my two track riders Mohd Fahmy and CS (Chee Seng) Chin, the only two persons who ride him in trackwork, and thank you to the whole staff as well.
"I was a little worried today as he had 59.5kgs and the others were claiming off weight like Sacred Croix and Fame Star.
"But when his draw came out as barrier No 1, I thought 'beautiful'. He had an economical run, didn't spend any energy and he sprinted by Fame Star so easily.
"Danny said that when he went past Fame Star, he did it so well, whereas he floated at his last win, he looked around."
The other well-backed Mr Malek (Wong Chin Chuen) disappointed again when third another gap of two and three-quarter lengths away. It was hoped the drop back to 1400m would suit him better than the 1600m of the Kranji Mile at his last start, but following a trouble-free run in fourth spot, he was still left chasing shadows when Lim's Lightning flicked on the afterburners.
Such was the dominance for Meagher's rejuvenated sprinter that the rest of the small seven-horse field finished well spread out in the run home, with an average of two lengths interval in between. Lim's Lightning clocked 1min 21.59 secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
That eighth win has brought his prizemoney level closer to the $900,000 mark but also cemented his status as arguably the best comeback story in Singapore racing in recent times.
After a stellar two-year-old campaign when he captured the Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m) among others for his previous handler Steven Burridge, Lim's Lightning tried his luck in Australia but didn't quite set Queensland and Victoria alight.
When news came through the Lim's Stable was bringing him back to his old stomping ground in a bid to rekindle his racing career, the naysayers were out in force. To them an unsuccessful overseas stint is a point of no return, and he would at best potter around in Class 2 company.
The Lope De Vega six-year-old has blown away that mindset with four wins from five starts at that second Kranji racing life, with the only defeat occurring when going down a narrow second to Minister in the Kranji Mile.
The latter was also in Sunday's 1400m race in preparation for the Raffles Cup as well, but disappointed with a tepid fifth place, a result which would now give trainer Donna Logan more work on her plate with only four weeks to go.
