3 minute read
Former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen registered his first win as a senior rider after he drove Quadcopter home in a close finish on Friday night.
Wong was promoted to the senior ranks from July 1, graduating from the apprentice jockey ranks as the winner of 143 races on both sides of the Causeway.
The 26-year-old Penangite began his riding career in Malaysia indentured to trainer Dr Tan Swee Hock recording 40 wins on his home soil before relocating to Kranji in 2015 when Dr Tan retired.
First indentured to ex-Kranji trainer David Hill before joining Tan's son Kah Soon, the well-mannered rider quickly became a popular booking with most trainers, receiving widespread praise for both his work ethic and polish in the saddle.
Obviously, the dynamics have not changed much since he became a freelance rider as he had already outridden his one-kilo claim, but Wong was still delighted he had that new milestone out of the way after drawing blanks at his first two meetings under the new status last weekend.
"It feels great to win my first race as a senior jockey," said Wong.
"This win will give me more confidence. So far so good, I'm still getting good support from my ex-boss KS Tan and other trainers, and tonight Mr (Hideyuki) Takaoka.
"They were going too fast in front and my horse (Quadcopter ) was travelling nicely in third.
"He did everything right and kept finding when he went past the leaders. He did everything right with Marc (Lerner) at his last start, too, but the other horse (Axel) was too good."
Takaoka said he was a little surprised with the way the $30 shot held a sustained run to the line in the $75,000 Victoria Racing Club Trophy, a Novice race over 1400m, given the chestnut's propensity to drop the bit when the pressure builds up.
"I was not all that confident he would run well tonight as he's such a difficult horse to ride," said the Japanese handler.
"But I think the hot speed helped him. CC is a good rider and he followed my instructions which were to wait for the right moment to launch him as he can switch off if he goes too early."
Quadcopter seemed to have the race at his mercy when he swept to the lead at the 300m, but the Takaoka camp held their breath as On Line (Joseph Azzopardi) came with a sizzling run on the outside, only to fall short by a head. My Boss (John Sundradas) took third place another length away.
The winning time was 1min 22.47secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
A three-year-old by Zoustar, Quadcopter was posting his second win from nine starts that had also yielded three seconds for prizemoney that has now gone past the $130,000 mark for the Jupiter Gold Stable of Mr Kaz Hosaka.
