September has immediately proven to be a kinder month for trainer Sonny Yeoh after he bagged a winning brace on Friday including the classy Astrostar.
Ridden by apprentice Troy See, the Australian-bred galloper motored home down the home straight to beat My Shine (Tengku Rehaizat) by three-quarter length with Bahen (Zuriman Zulkifli) another half-length away in third.
With Lively Dragon saluting in an earlier race, Yeoh was celebrating rare double that would have helped to ease last month’s frustration in which he was on the losing far too many times than he cared for.
The Malaysian handler finished second on five occasions and third twice in August before finally ending that unlucky streak when Master Dragon saluted on the final day.
With two winners gleamed from just two runners, Yeoh, who has now collected 17 winners this term, was in an upbeat mood and could even afford to joke about his recent travails.
“That was all the tough preparation we needed,” he said. “We got the lucky two tonight. I’m very happy with that and so will everyone in the stable. It’s a good night for us.”
He was also pleased with the way Astrostar ($14) overcame a poor jump from gate four, which forced the brown gelding out wide and in danger of blotting his formidable record over the alternative surface from which he has never finished outside the top-two (winning four times) in his eight previous starts.
Thankfully for the UNI Stable, they had a rider whose calm demeanor off the tracks is reflected inside the rails as well as See never panicked despite his less than ideal position aboard Astrostar and patiently waited for a clear path to appear among the cluster of horses in front of him.
Once in the lead, he also managed to keep something in the tank to hold off the late-charging My Shine whose challenge was thwarted when he ran out of track. The winning time was 1min 5.38secs.
“He was a bit slow in the barriers but luckily for me when everyone decided to come in it also opened up some gaps and I was able to weave in between them and put my horse into a nice spot behind the leader (Super Kenny with Nooresh Juglall aboard),” said See, whose last winner for Yeoh was coincidentally aboard Moonbeam Dazzler on July 27, another UNI Stable-owned galloper.
“After that we were able to put some pressure on him and it came down to which horse was stronger and I knew this horse was a tough fighter and had to speed to beat him. Credit to Sonny and his team for getting him in such good shape.”
This was the Singaporean hoop’s sole ride of the nine-card meeting and it resulted in his 11th victory of the campaign (he has long surpassed last year’s tally of eight), a respectable return for a jockey who does not get too many rides.
“It’s been a bit difficult as I don’t always get the support with a big number of rides so I have to make the most of my chances and I’m very happy to have gotten another winner for these owners,” he said.
