Luck deserted Mr Lewis at his last start, and it seemed to be heading that way again in Sunday’s $65,000 Big Heart Stakes (Initiation) over 1400m when he drew the worst in 16, but a peach of a ride from Vlad Duric turned his fortunes around.
The Darci Brahma four-year-old could not get a run for Michael Rodd after being hopelessly stuck in a pocket at his last start. The $6 favourite was a certainty beaten and had to settle for second place to Brilliant One.
Duric had the race won with a masterful ride in the early 300m. Bouncing Mr Lewis ($16) out from his wide alley, the Australian jockey somehow managed to ease back into a nice pocket behind the early frontrunners before switching off the engine to give his mount a breather after the early effort.
As soon as race-leader Creamy Custard (Matthew Kellady) started to show the white flag, the pouncers were on the scene in a flash, headed by Bayu (Danny Beasley) and Emergency runner Darci’s Boy (John Powell) on the outside with Mr Lewis not far behind.
For a while, it looked like Bayu could keep up the momentum all the way to the wire, but Duric was in no mood to let the Per Incanto four-year-old, a horse he knows well for having ridden him at his debut third, slip away.
Giving Mr Lewis several tastes of his persuader, Duric extracted the best out of his mount who gradually gained the ascendancy of Bayu to go and post a 1 ½ length-win from Peach Bowl, who steamed home late to pip second place from Bayu by a head. The winning time was 1min 23.23secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
“I was worried about the wide barrier, but I was lucky to be able to get into a lovely spot behind the leaders without using him up too much,” said Duric.
“I just followed Steve’s (Gray) horse who was hard to beat and he took me into the race very well.
“It took a furlong for his fitness to kick in, and the other thing was Bayu was also going up to 14 for the first time. He got the job done in the end.”
Assistant-trainer Shane Ellis praised Duric for a “great ride”, especially after he thought their chances were severely dented after the barrier draw.
“We were disappointed with the draw, but there was a great deal of speed in the race, and we were confident he could get a good spot in midfield, one off the fence,” said Ellis.
“He was held up on the fence at his last start, but he had a very good run from the wide draw today. It worked out brilliant and Vlad gave him a great ride.”
Mr Lewis may have run only four times at Kranji but he is already boasting a handy record of one win and three placings for more than $65,000 in stakes for the Oscar Racing Stable.
