Malaysian apprentice jockey Amirul Ismadi’s reputation as a supersub grew further after he piloted pick-up ride Eye Guy to a bold all-the-way win on Sunday.
Back in March 3, the son of Ipoh trainer Ismadi Ismail proved to be an apt replacement aboard Elite Power, shouldering with aplomb the added pressure of steering a favourite home.
Eye Guy was not as well fancied, but at $47, was rated as a blowout lightweight chance from the ideal No 2 gate in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1400m.
A couple of factors rose against the three-time winner (all over 1200m) by Bradbury’s Luck, though. It was the four-year-old’s first 1400m test and the step-up in class against heavyweights like Be Bee, Curvature, Lim’s Magic and Paparazzi made his task look rather daunting.
Up stepped Mr Supersub in lieu of Glen Boss who could not make the 50kgs handicap. The instructions from Michael Clements were simple for the on-pace runner, cut him loose early and ride him for luck.
Amirul duly responded with a sensible ride beyond his years. Mindful that Eye Guy was going over seven furlongs for the first time, the young rookie waited for as long as he could before cutting the ribbons.
At the 300m, Eye Guy was holding the fort quite well, but the swoopers were right on his hammer. Favourite Be Bee (John Powell), however, was not putting in as expected even after an ideal smothered run in midfield.
Instead, it was Curvature (Michael Rodd) who seemed to command the best authority to outgun Eye Guy at the 200m, and Paparazzi (Wong Chin Chuen) to a lesser extent, but Eye Guy never put a foot wrong inside the last 200 yards, pulling out plenty to score by three parts of a length from Curvature with Paparazzi third another neck away.
Lim’s Magic (Vlad Duric) had every chance when brought out to the outside for his run, but he peaked late to finish fourth another 1 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 22.76secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
Amirul was more amused than anything else with his new ‘supersub’ moniker, modestly saying he was just lucky to be at the right place at the right time.
“I seem to be good with pick-up rides this year. I’m still caught in a good fight with Iskandar (Rosman) and CC (Chin Chuen) Wong, and I just have to make the most of the opportunities that come by,” he said with his usual wide grin.
“I have nothing much to say other than I would like to praise the stable boys for the good job done on this horse.
“He had a good draw and the light weight helps a lot. It was his first time going over 1400m, but he let down very well and kept a good gallop to the line.”
Winning trainer Michael Clements said he had been expecting a better run from Eye Guy second-up. At his racing comeback from a four-month spell, he weakened after racing handy to finish eighth to stablemate Quarter Back on February 6.
“He was still big at his last run, his weight was up and he just blew up,” said Clements.
“He went average at his last run before the break. He just needed the break.
“Today, the apprentice controlled the speed in front and the horse went all the way. The light weight was a huge help.
“He may be going for the first Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, but it’s still some way away.”
With the famed series reinstated, a new first Leg has been created, the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m) which will be run on June 9.
Eye Guy has now established a smart record of four wins and two thirds from eights starts for prizemoney in excess of $185,000 for owner Joe Singh.
