The win may have come in a modest Class 4 race, but it was a visibly emotional Derreck David who jumped off Sunday winner Keen Dragon.
The South African jockey became a dad for the second time on Wednesday when wife Angelique gave birth to a daughter they named Mila, and at least one winner from his book of 10 rides over the weekend would have been the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of the new bundle of joy.
After neither of his two rides obliged on Friday – even though Queen’s Seven nearly pulled it off with an eye-catching close third in Race 7 - David headed to the track two days later with renewed determination, spurred on by the knowledge his better rides were on Sunday.
And Keen Dragon, his third ride of the day, was the one that brought tears of joy to the new daddy at the winner’s enclosure.
“I’d like to dedicate this win to my wife Angelique for having given me the most beautiful Chinese New Year present ever, my baby daughter Mila,” said David who already has a son.
“And I say that with tears in my eyes. Everything else is a bonus now.”
The day could indeed get better for David who has five more rides to honour, but Keen Dragon was the one he had pinned most of his hopes on.
“I thought he had a good chance after I rode him to second at his last run,” he said.
“They slowed down from the nine to the 850 and I was stuck four wide. I then decided to circle the field and go forward.
“When I asked him to go, he picked up very well and he wouldn’t stop as he went all the way to the line.”
Sent out as the joint $19 favourite (with Elite Takes All), Keen Dragon hit the front 400m out but in spite of the slew of horses threatening to close the gap, he kept up his momentum down the Kranji straight to defeat Desert Fox (Saifudin Ismail) by 1 ½ lengths with Faithfully (Mark Ewe) third another short head away. The winning time was 1min 6.01secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
Winning trainer Mark Walker also gave David the thumbs-up to his handling and was particularly pleased for the people who pay the bills for such a useful horse.
“The owner Mr Willy Leong (of Magus Equine Stable) is from Hong Kong and bought his horse out of Malaysia,” said the 2015 Singapore champion trainer.
“He’s been a good honest horse to us. He never runs a bad race.
“Mr Leong has always been a supporter of mine from Day 1. He’s a fantastic owner, understands racing and I’m glad to get another win for him.”
A six-year-old by Hidden Dragon, Keen Dragon has now recorded five wins and eight placings from 31 runs for stakes earnings edging close to the quarter-million dollar mark.
