Straight after trainer Stephen Gray finally seized that elusive 600th winner, he went on to make it win No 601 in the very next race.
As is often the case in racing, hitting that target had taken the New Zealander close to two months or 38 starters (see previous story on Darc Bounty) to achieve, but once the door had been triggered open, the winners just flowed.
“I was just saying how hard it was to hit that mark, and all of a sudden we got two winners back-to-back!” said assistant-trainer Peter Hutton standing in for Gray who is currently in New Zealand attending the Karaka yearling sale.
Golden Curl ($27) was the one to double the score for Gray who three races back was still wallowing at the bottom of the ladder on zero.
It could not have been a more fitting winner as the Pentire eight-year-old had long been a stable favourite, especially Hutton’s.
“He’s an absolute superstar. 90% of the credit goes to the vet Dr Aileen Sandosham who does acupuncture on him,” said Hutton.
“This horse brings his A game every time, and I just told the rider (Wong Chin Chuen) to just let him find a good spot and he will give you everything.
“He listened to me and he rode the horse perfectly. I’m just so proud of this horse.”
Golden Curl has been a handy moneyspinner for his owner Paul Hickman of St George Stable, having now scored eight wins and 11 placings from 44 starts for stakes earnings slowly edging closer to the half-million mark.
Wong, who was at his first time partnering the chestnut, said he just listened to Hutton’s instructions.
“I just listened to Peter’s instructions which was to jump well and find a good spot and let him come to the outside,” said the 2016 Singapore champion apprentice jockey, who is already topping this year’s log on five wins.
“I thought I hit the front too soon, but I had a clear run and I could not hold back anymore. He just kept going.”
Golden Curl was buried in midfield while Irish-bred newcomer Parliament (Nooresh Juglall) set the pace. Turning for home, as the weakening Happy Money (Nurshahril Nordin) rolled off, a gap presented itself, and Golden Curl was the first to dart through.
Solaris Spectrum (Syafiq Hazman) and Kirks Ryker (Olivier Placais) did try to cut him back, but Golden Curl kept on to reach the wire by one length from Solaris Spectrum with Kirks Ryker third another half-length away. The winning time was 1min 23.22secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
