Normally known as a morning glory, Satellite Boy bucked the trend with a smart all-the-way win in the Lucky Last on Sunday.
The Astronomer Royal five-year-old is the sort who bashes his rivals in barrier trials, but come raceday, he seems to leave that smashing form at the stables.
Prior to the latest trial on January 26, he had won four barrier trials, and three of them by panels, in the lead-up to his next start in the past, but every time flopped where it mattered.
Trainer John O’Hara was therefore not doing cartwheels when the Satellite T Stable-owned gelding turned the latest one last Thursday into a procession with an eight-and-a-quarter-length streeting of his rivals.
Even when apprentice jockey Mohd Firdaus, who was aboard at that latest trial romp, managed to secure the lead in the $60,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 1100m, O’Hara was still praying hard he would not come back to his other 10 rivals in the home straight.
His prayers were answered because Satellite Boy ($45) was in no mood to capitulate on Sunday. Hard up against the rails, he was plugging away very well, even with the charge of the light brigade headed by favourite Macarthur (Michael Rodd), Louey Veloce (Vlad Duric) and Super Brilliant (Glen Boss) launching screaming runs right behind.
Well driven by Firdaus, Satellite Boy found the line with great determination to score by 1 ¼ lengths from the fast-finishing Effortless (John Powell) with Louey Veloce third separated by an identical margin. The winning time was 1min 5.97secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
“The apprentice rode to instructions and the horse responded very well to his riding,” said O’Hara.
“He has to go forward, but unlike his previous starts, he just kept going. It’s great for the owners.”
Firdaus modestly deflected all credit to the trainer and his staff, saying he had the easier part which was just to bring the finishing touches to all their pre-race hard work.
“I am just the jockey listening to the trainer’s instructions,” said Firdaus.
“I rode him in that barrier trial he won by eight lengths, but Mr O’Hara told me how to ride him in a race, and he responded very well to my riding. I rode him in a race before and he’s definitely the sort who goes better when he can dictate from the front.
“In the last 200m, they were coming at us, but he fought on very bravely.”
Satellite Boy has now brought his record to two wins and one third from 12 starts for stakes earnings in excess of the $75,000 mark for his owners.
Meanwhile, the previous race won by Red Ant for a rare training treble for low-profile trainer Mok Zhan Lun, was marred by a fall at the 750m. Jockey Nooresh Juglall took a heavy tumble from his mount Rusty Brown in the $60,000 Class 4 race over 1200m and was later sent to hospital.
The Mauritian jockey, who is at his first meeting back from a short trip to his hometown to visit his mother who just had an operation, is reported to be conscious but is complaining of sore muscle and some bruising to his nose and tongue.
Juglall, who led the ladder before dropping to second place with Vlad Duric sitting one clear thanks to a riding double (Siam Gemstone and Rosegold) scored before his fall, must have felt like deja-vu as he was being stretchered off the track.
One year ago, he was topping the premiership when his season was put paid by a back injury sustained in a barrier trial on January 12. He was in the end sidelined for more than two months, but when he returned, he still did well to finish eighth on 45 winners.
Trainer Ricardo Le Grange who rushed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to be by Juglall’s side, said brain scans have come back clear and the general outlook is good at that point in time, but he was still under observation as a precaution.
