The late scratching of two noted on-pacers might have been the factor which played into the hands of Cash Box scoring his Kranji maiden win on Friday night.

The 11-horse field was loaded away and ready to kick off in the $60,000 The First Aurora Cup race (1100m), a Class 4 Div 2 event, when Nova Warrior (Shafiq Rizuan) suddenly reared and collapsed on the ground. The sudden commotion spooked California Eagle (Michael Rodd) in the adjacent stall and he in turn bolted out the front without his jockey.

Both Shafiq and Rodd were fortunately unharmed but their race was over after their mounts were withdrawn from the race.

After the start was delayed by 15 minutes with all remaining nine horses having to be reloaded, $8 race favourite Cash Box (Manoel Nunes), was the first to hit the ground running from his wide gate.

The son of Shamardal showed a good toe to catch up with race-leader Public Figure (Sam Subian) and sit on his outside all the way to the home turn.

Upon straightening, Cash Box started drawing away from the rest and looked all home and hosed, but shortened strides inside the final 100m, allowing the swoopers to cut him back. The Desmond Koh-trained galloper, however, outlasted them to reach the wire by half-a-length from Lucky Dapper (Alan Munro) with Roma (Mohd Zaki) a further neck away in third.

Cash Box made it past the winning post first in a time of 1min 5.78secs to land the prize for his owners, the Effect Stable in partnership with Koh himself.

Nunes said the withdrawal of Nova Warrior and California Eagle gave him an opportunity to run with a little more pace than originally planned.

“We were supposed to ride quiet because Nova Warrior would have led,” said the Brazilian hoop.

“California Eagle was dropping in class too but when both horses were scratched, I had to put him there (at the front).

“He was easy to ride and this horse has speed. But the barrier was not very good and he got tired in the end after carrying 58 kilos.”

Koh was also worried about the amount of weight Cash Box had on his back when he saw the five-year-old gelding was trapped a bit deep for most of the race.

“There was a lack of pace once the two horses were scratched. So it was a good call from Manoel to go forward,” said the Singaporean conditioner.

“But when I saw him running wide, I was a little worried because of the heavy weight he was carrying.

“He probably can go a little further for his next race but it won’t be much further. He is a sprinter after all.”

With this win, Cash Box has brought his total stakes earnings up to the $60,000 mark for connections.