In a day of firsts jockey Tommy Chang landed his first winner in Singapore when Fat King took out the $55,000 Class 4 Stakes over 1700m on the Polytrack on Sunday.
Chang's victory followed the success of trainer Steven Lam in the previous race, the $35,000 Class 5 Stakes over 1700m.
Riding the speed throughout, Fat King held on to score a short head victory over Corsage (Shafiq Rusof) with Lindt (Olivier Placais) three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
It was 37 year-old Chang's 12th ride in Singapore after having his first ride aboard to the Tan Hor Khoon-trained Casino Ruler back on September 22.
Malaysian born, Chang rode 110 winners in the US before heading to Singapore where a cousin introduced him to Tan.
He rode mainly in New York, Virginia, Maryland and Boston but with opportunities starting to dry up he looked afield for somewhere new.
But gaining the work permit and jockey's licence was hard work and Chang considered packing up and returning to the US.
It was Tan who helped the jockey gain his work permit to ride in Singapore and also provided him with his first success.
“I'm very excited with this success,” said Chang. “I have to thank the trainer and the owner for giving me the chance on this horse.
“Hopefully this win will be the first of many if only I can get the chance.
“It has taken a little bit of time to learn the different ways of racing here. The track rides a lot faster here.
“In the US on the dirt it is a lot deeper and you need to keep the horses a lot more balanced.”
Chang is unsure how long he will continue riding and would like to see himself as a 'B' trainer in Singapore having worked for various trainers in the US.
“I have no timeline on how long I will ride but I like living here in Singapore at when I retire from riding I would like to become a 'B' trainer,” said Chang.
“The racing industry is very good and I want to stay involved when I finish riding.”
Before landing his first winner, Chang had the dubious honour of having three suspensions from his first nine rides in Singapore.
Fat King, a five-year-old Australian-bred by Mossman from the Snippets mare Prisage, landed his third win from 18 starts and topped the $100,000 mark in prizemoney for the Fatboy Stable with his victory on Sunday.
