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After nearly three years without finding the line, Group 3 winner King Louis finally reclaimed his long-lost crown, never mind if it came in a more modest $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race on the Polytrack mile on Saturday.

The Ricardo Le Grange-trained Medaglia D'Oro seven-year-old was once spoken of in the same breath as the Mr Clint , I'm Incredible, Countofmontecristo  and even Southern Legend, especially after he claimed the Group 3 El Dorado Classic (2000m) for iRace boss Steve Levar at his first season in 2018.

He franked that sparkling form with another win in a Class 2 race over 1800m one month later on October 21, 2018. Connections couldn't have suspected that was to be the last of his four wins for a very long time.

Although the performances were a little jagged the following season, he still made amends by holding his own in marquee Group 1 events like the Singapore Derby (1800m) when third to Sun Marshal or when he lost the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) by a pimple to I'm Incredible.

But the rot set downright in shortly after his disappointing run in the Group 1 Dester Singapore Gold Cup (2000m). He went through 22 races without flattering, increasingly giving that impression that form of old had deserted him, so much so Levar, who was incidentally ending his involvement in horse ownership in Singapore, sold him to Le Grange.

With the tapering form and ratings (plummeted from his highest mark of 97 to 67 in less than 1 ½ years) not showing any signs of redress, Le Grange could have given up, too, but he never left his corner.

He even tinkered around with the gear, surface and distance in a bid to spark his vanishing form up again. A third in a Polytrack 1200m in Class 4 company did raise some hope, but he mixed his form again.

Only the born optimists would have kept the faith with him on Saturday, but going on his 7-1 odds, there seemed to be a smattering of them around!

Punched out of the pens aggressively by Marc Lerner, King Louis  was actually the quickest in the 12-horse field past the winning post the first time until Green Star (Mohd Zaki) and Royalty (Koh Teck Huat) came whizzing past.

It probably worked out for the best for a galloper who had never found himself as the dictator at his previous 43 starts as he took a drop in the box-seat, but once the rails gap presented itself upon straightening, the winning flair was really and truly awakened.

That blinding acceleration wasn't quite there, but he still did his best work to go through before edging clear. Free Fallin' (Hakim Kamarudiin) gave a brief scare he could deprive the old boy of that elusive win again, but the winning post came in time to save him by half-a-length.

Green Star, who tried to do it end-to-end, finished a creditable third another three parts of a length away. King Louis ran the Polytrack mile in 1min 38.11secs.

Le Grange has led in scores of winners both as assistant-trainer to Patrick Shaw or as a trainer in his own right, but rarely have we seen the South African conditioner as emotional as he was as he greeted King Louis to that much-needed fillip.

"I'm just so happy for the horse. That's all I have to say, really," he said.

"Just to see him win again really made my day, and what a great ride from Marc. He put in maximum effort.

"He had to be positive today as the horse was super fit."

When probed further about any specific reasons that could explain the long dry spell, Le Grange said he himself had been at a loss to put his finger on one.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe he just needed to get his confidence again, he got a bit stale," he said.

With prizemoney that had stagnated around the $800,000-850,000 mark for a while, that sudden win has now spiked it closer to the $900,000 mark.