Mere weeks after collecting his eighth premiership title, veteran trainer Laurie Laxon showed no signs of slowing down as he began the year in winning fashion as Dujardin triumphed in the $200,000 Group 3 New Year Cup (1900m) on Wednesday.
The New Zealand-bred gelding, with jockey Manoel Nunes aboard for the first time, was too strong for his fellow competitors down the straight as he powered home on the Polytrack in a winning time of 1min 58.75sec, just outside the record of 1min 58.23sec set by Royal Brat in 2013.
Goliath (Corey Brown) was three-quarter length behind in second with The Rude Warrior (Vagner Leal) a further two lengths away in third in the first feature race of the new racing season in Kranji.
“He’s a very useful horse,” said Laxon, who won the New Year Cup for the first time since the race was introduced in 2011. “He’s also a clean winded horse who doesn’t blow much.”
Indeed the six-year-old galloper, whose form of late has been disappointing and whose last victory was over a year ago, looked in supreme condition as he ate up ground on leader The Rude Warrior after Nunes angled him out wide.
“I watched his last race (where Dujardin finished seventh behind eventual winner The Rude Warrior) and felt that he was a much better horse than that,” said the Brazilian rider. “I did some work with him on the weekend and told Laurie just give me a chance on him.
“There was good speed to the race today and he travelled really comfortably. Once I took him out wide at the 600m mark I knew I still had plenty of the horse left and he just responded very well.”
Being ridden at the minimum weight of 50kg in the handicap race was also significant, said Laxon.
“He also likes the Polytrack and his record on this surface is quite good,” he said.
The son of Magic Ring has now won three times on the alternative surface from 10 starts. Overall, this was his sixth victory from 27 outings and he has now collected close to $400,000 in stakes earnings for the Kiwi conditioner’s regular collaborator Oscar Racing Stable.
It may have been the first meeting of the year but the eight-time champion trainer, who saddled 78 winners last year, was already targeting another successful campaign.
“I’m looking forward to another year,” he said. “I’ve got quite a few young good horses.”
The hunt for title number nine, one might say, has already started.
