3 minute read
Trainer Jason Ong was equally happy after Super Convince swooped home late in the $75,000 Minister 2021 Stakes to hand him his 100th career win on Saturday.
But yet, the Singaporean trainer probably thought that his first win at the Kranji Mile meeting would arrive half an hour earlier in the opening race.
Ridden by jockey Koh Teck Huat in the $30,000 Lim's Lightning 2022 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 2 race (1400m), $11 favourite See Yah just got pipped by a nose from the Donna Logan-trained God's Gift ($20), who got up under a well-timed ride from visiting Australian jockey, Mark Zahra.
Racing can be a game of luck sometimes, but Ong was certainly relieved to go home a winner after Super Convince ($34) opened his account at his third start.
After picking up speed around the bend, Super Convince (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) peeled out upon turning before he motored past another maiden galloper, Creative Dreams (Daniel Moor) at the 100m to bring up a century of wins for Ong.
The three-year-old son of former Singapore champion juvenile, Super One, won by half a length from Creative Dreams at the post. Shihab (Manoel Nunes) ran another two-and-a-quarter lengths away in third.
The winning time was 1 min 22.57secs for the Restricted Maiden race over 1400m on the Short Course.
Ong might not have kept tab on the number of wins he had clocked in up till his fifth season of training, but he knew he could not have done it without the strong support from one of his long-time owners and Singaporean businessman, Mr Tan Teck Seng.
"I didn't know that was my 100th win. Any champagne for me?" quipped Ong, who got off the mark with Sothistheone in September 2019 after he took over the string of horses from his ex-boss Bruce Marsh.
"I really thought See Yah had a good chance of winning, but he got beat by a nose. That's racing, sometimes.
"I bought him (Super Convince) for A$80,000 at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale two years ago as I had a good association with (Cambridge trainer) Shane Crawford of Regal Farm.
"Super One's a good horse and I really liked Super Convince because he's very athletic, but he was obviously not as precocious, so I gave him a bit more time.
"His first prep didn't go too well, but the second one went really well. We didn't want to change his racing pattern, so I told Harry (A'Isisuhairi) to be patient, let him run where he's comfortable and it all worked out well.
"Harry rode him a treat. A little further would suit him (Super Convince) but he's still learning.
"Mr Tan was one of the first owners that supported me when I began my training career. I'm very grateful that he has supported me till now."
Harry said Super Convince had excuses at his last run in a similar race over 1100m, but the TTS Stable-owned gelding has improved for his first win on Saturday.
"He couldn't run in the money at his last start but he was just a bit unlucky because he didn't have a clear run," said the Kelantan-born hoop.
"He still finished the race nicely (in fifth). I know we'd drawn outside (barrier 10) today but the pace was on and I'm happy.
"I parked him behind on the inside and he travelled beautifully over the seven furlongs on the grass.
"At the half mile, I've still got plenty of horses underneath me and off he went after I balanced him up at the top of the straight.
"He's not a big strider but he moved nicely for his size. I think a mile shouldn't be a problem for him but the main thing is that he can relax."
With that first win in three starts, Super Convince has earned over $40,000 in prizemoney for connections.
