French jockey Olivier Placais admitted his winning ride on favourite Nowyousee was not pretty, but he will still take it with both hands.
Placais had been in white-hot form for around four months, racking up winners week-in week-out, the zenith being his Emirates Singapore Derby win on Jupiter Gold in July, but his season recently hit the skids with suspensions for careless riding, as well as a slight drop in winners.
To earn a riding double courtesy of trainer Lee Freedman (also prepares his earlier winner My Big Boss) in such times was a leg-up Placais would not sneeze at for sure, especially as most of the suspended jockeys on the outer would be back from next week.
Placais was making hay while the sun shines, but he was still a touch sheepish and self-critical of his ride at the weigh-in.
“Actually, I’m very lucky to win because the horse is good. That’s one ride you should not show at the apprentice school,” he said.
“It wasn’t my best ride. Horse No 4 (Marine Treasure) was tired early and I had to pass him right on the outside.
“But luckily, I have a strong horse who can still go ahead. This horse is still improving race after race.
“I feel sorry for Daniel (Moor), but that’s the sport we’re in.”
The Australian jockey is one of six riders missing from the roster at this weekend’s action through suspension. He would have on paper been the booking for both My Big Boss and Nowyousee.
Placais was probably being a little harsh on himself as Nowyousee could not have settled in a better position while Sebas (Krisna Thangamani) set a scorcher at the head of affairs.
When Marine Treasure started to blow out, there weren’t many other options but to come around heels and avoid getting shuffled back further – which he did.
Granted, the extra distance covered might have softened up the $13 favourite a little, with Autumn Rush and a hungry Beau Mertens gunning for a second win after Molineux saluted earlier (see other report), the first to jump at the chance.
But Placais’ trademark hard riding was successful in coaxing his brave conveyance to the line with a mere head setting him apart from his gallant challenger.
Lim’s Shot (Chin Chee Seng) got into the act late, but could only settle for third place another half-a-length away. The winning time was 1min 5.04secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
Freedman said he might pencil in the Group 3 Garden City Trophy (1200m) on October 21 as Nowyousee’s next target.
“He did a good job to win today. He was up in weights and he’s not a very big horse,” said the Australian handler.
“I told Jeffrey (Soh of Titanium Racing Stable) he has been training very well and he would be hard to beat today.
“He will go up in grade and I may run him in the Garden City Trophy as he will get a drop in weights, but we’ll see how he pulls up first.”
A four-year-old by O’Reilly, Nowyousee has now achieved a handy record of five wins and four placings from 10 starts for prizemoney hitting around the $270,000 mark for the Titanium Racing Stable.
