A trimmer Dr N Wing Fighters finally opened his account at his 12th run in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race (1400m).
The win came as a bit of a surprise for his trainer, Leslie Khoo, as he did not show much at his previous starts, plus he thought he still looked “too fat”. But Khoo did see an improvement in his physique in the week leading to Friday's race, none more significant than a loss of 15kgs when he tipped the scales.
The race itself was not a walk in the park. Caught three wide facing the breeze from the start, Dr N Wing Fighters waited for the home straight to launch his challenge as Mighty Glory (Barend Vorster) swept past leader Gold Striker (Pregasam Dellorto) upon straightening.
Mighty Glory and Dr N Wing Fighters locked horns in the last 400m, while Not Exactly (Michael Rodd) was also joining in after being hopelessly boxed in for about 150m. He could only settle for third, though, three-quarter-length off the duelling duo which saw Dr N Wing Fighters ($60) putting his head down first to beat $14 favourite Mighty Glory by a short head. The winning time was 1min 24.02secs.
Khoo was glad the Empire Stable-owned runner had ended his luckless run as he had a few close seconds in the past few weeks. Dr N Wing Fighters brings him to 27 wins to sit third on the trainer's log.
“I have a lot of seconds recently. Luckily this horse won, and it’s good for the owner, Uncle Chan (Wing Seng) too,” said the Singaporean handler.
“He was a little fat at his first run but he has lost 15kgs since so it is just nice now. His fitness has improved but there is still room for improvement and it has taken some time for him to reach his form because he’s big."
“All credit to Mario. It was his first time on this horse but I told him to ride in whatever position he’s comfortable in and he rode him very well.”
Esposito, who was registering his second Singapore win, said Dr N Wing Fighters was the sluggish sort who needs plenty of coaxing.
“The race went very well though it was a tight win,” said Esposito.
“He’s a lazy horse who needs some pushing but once I did, he just took off.
“I feel that even if the distance was longer, my horse would still win.
“He was a little fat at his last second run because he was spelled for two months but today they have prepared him very well so he’s in good condition.
“I am thankful to Leslie and the owners for believing in me and allowing me to get on him.”
Khoo felt that the Akhenaton three-year-old was crying for more ground.
“This win was a little of a surprise as I only had 50-50 expectations of him because he’s a horse with limited ability and he did not show much potential in his last few runs," he said.
“But we will see how it goes and I feel that a longer trip like 1400m-1600m would probably suit him better.”
