Promising stayer Mr Fatkid overcame a slight traffic scare at the top of the straight to burst away to a terrific comeback win on Friday night.
Unsighted since the last of his three Kranji wins on May 14 when he made light work of a Class 4 field in an 1800m race, Mr Fatkid asserted his superiority once he was set alight by first-time partner Craig Grylls through a providential opening on the rails in the $80,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1400m.
A few seconds earlier, trouble struck when a move to pop off his rails-hugging run in search of galloping room through a compact bunch of horses came unstuck.
Mr Fatkid even looked like he was hampered, but luckily for the backers of the $18 top fancy, Grylls never lost his poise as he adroitly steered him back to the inside running rails.
At that very moment, race-leader Life Is Gamble (John Sundradas) was also getting the wobbles as he rolled off the fence, leaving an inviting gap that Grylls quickly capitalised on.
Chalaza (Manoel Nunes) and Awatere (Shafiq Rizuan) were still in the mix, but once Mr Fatkid went through his gears, the race was all over bar the shouting.
The Mettre En Jeu four-year-old pulled away from the pack to post a 1 ¼-length win from Awatere with Guilty Pleasures (Matthew Kellady) storming late for third place another three parts of a length away. The winning time was 1min 21.86secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
A relieved Cliff Brown said he agreed with race-caller Matthew Jones he could use a relaxant after the race.
“Matty summed it up well, even if it was a little explicit. I do need a relaxant,” said the jocular Australian.
“The horse needed to get out of the way and once he saw daylight, he did a good job all the way to the line.
“He’s a nice horse and we’ll see what happens. He’s on the right road.”
Grylls, who would probably have felt a little stiff had he lost on a favourite at his first ride for Brown, said things did get a touch sticky at the home turn, but his prayers for an opening were thankfully answered.
“The horse couldn’t get out, but once he got a passage, he travelled up through it nicely and he was running away from them in the last bit,” said the Kiwi jockey who was notching up his second winner in Singapore.
“It was a good training effort from Cliff to get this horse to win first-up over 1400m. He’s a nice type with a staying future.”
Mr Fatkid has now chalked up four wins and three placings from eight outings for around $175,000 in stakes money for his owner Frankie Lim of 2011 Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Fatkid fame.
