Trainer David Hill looks to have unearthed a rising prospect with Hughsy notching up back-to-back wins at Kranji on Sunday.
Partnered again by jockey David Flores, the Australian-bred gelding maintained his unbeaten record with another late charge down the straight, edging Boomarang Deluxe (Corey Brown) by a head with Sacred City (Koh Teck Huat) well adrift in third, just over four lengths away in third. The winning time on the Short Course was 1min 22.91secs.
While Hughsy’s maiden victory owed much to a barnstorming finish, it was a different tactic devised this time by trainer David Hill who wanted his chestnut three-year-old to be more proactive early on in the race.
“He’s a big baby this horse,” said the British handler. “You could see that today. He was sort of dawdling when he got to the front and waiting for the rest of them to catch up to him.
“It would have been better if he comes from behind and chases the leader but I wasn’t sure what the pace of the race today was going to be like so I told David to try and get him to the front much earlier.”
Drawn right next to the rails in barrier one this time (they started out wide at gate 12 last month), Flores was content to allow Captain McCaw (Rueven Ravindra) to set the early tone and kept Hughsy travelling quietly in midfield, saving petrol as they took the shortest route on the inside.
Only when a gap and a clear path presented itself at the top of the straight did Hughsy venture away from his plum position and with 300m to go, it looked like the race was done and dusted as the $15 favourite began to pull away, threatening to win by a few lengths.
Instead, it was fellow three-year-old Boomarang Deluxe who found a higher gear and was gaining ground at an alarming rate on the slackening Hughsy, who thankfully had done enough though to hang on and avoid what would have been a disheartening loss.
“It felt like he needed the other horse to put him under some pressure before he could respond,” said Flores, who enjoyed a productive week with his third winner from two meetings.
The Mexican-born hoop brought up his 25th winner of the season and is within sights of Brazilian jockey Ivaldo Santana, who is sixth in the premiership standings and just two wins clear of Flores.
Hill meanwhile, has saddled 11 winners this campaign. He managed 27 last year, enjoying a strong second half to the season in which he collected 18 over the final six months.
While delighted at masterminding another victory for Hughsy, he was reluctant to set any ambitious goals for the newcomer, though Hill was expecting improvements from the gelding when he returns.
“I’ll probably spell him for a bit now and he can probably go over 1600m in the future,” he said. “I think he’s going to be a much better horse next year.”
By Henny Hughes out of Shashzaya, Hughsy was purchased for just A$15,000 and has proven to be a savvy investment for the Ace-In-The-Hole Stable. He has now collected around S$55,000 in prizemoney from two outings with the promise of more to come.
