Top Australian jockey Glen Boss was able to put behind his ordinary Caulfield trip on Saturday after he chalked up a running double with two Lim’s Stable horses back at Kranji on the very next day.
Not only the 81 Australian Group 1-winning jockey came home empty-handed from his two hit-and-run Melbourne Group 1 missions – Tom Melbourne ran sixth in the Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Riven Light ran seventh in the Caulfield Stakes (2000m) – but he also incurred the Melbourne Stewards’ wrath with a 10-day suspension for careless riding aboard Riven Light at the 200m mark.
Unless he appeals, Boss’s time on the sidelines will see him miss both the Caulfield Cup this Saturday and the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1800m) ride aboard Lim’s Cruiser next Sunday, not to mention the Group 2 El Dorado Classic (2200m) on the same day.
But if that setback had dented his mood, it didn’t show in the way the consummate professional went about his business at Kranji, steering Lim's Royal and Lim’s Blast to resounding race-to-race victories in their respective events, the $60,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m and the $35,000 Maiden race over 1100m.
Boss, who seems to be taking the bulk of the Lim’s Stable rides these days, called Lim’s Royal a “nice horse with a good engine”.
“He’s a very nice horse. I like him a lot,” said Boss of the first of his two winners.
“He’s got a good engine. At the top of the straight, I always knew the tearaway leader would come back to me.”
Daring catch-me-if-you-can tactics looked to be a gamble about to pay off for Wonderful Knight (Benny Woodworth), but his commanding lead suddenly dwindled 200m out as Lim’s Royal, a four-year-old by Rothesay, jumped out of the ground to bring the leader down.
The momentum noticeably swung the other way as the $11 favourite inexorably drew on level terms with Wonderful Knight 150m out before drawing clear to a most imposing 1 ½-length win. Such was the superiority of the first two that Metallocene (John Powell) ran third another gap of four lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.21secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
The James Peters-trained Lim’s Blast ($45) was arguably not as eye-catching in the way he forged his victory, but it still showcased Boss’s patience as he waited for the gap to appear on the rails at the 300m before he went pedal to the metal.
Unplaced at his first four runs, the Bel Esprit four-year-old rolled away to his first win, holding the fast-closing Chocante (John Powell) at bay by one length. New Zealand import Belt And Road (Wong Chin Chuen) tried to make all at his second Kranji start, but weakened late to run third another 1 ¼ lengths away.
The winning time was 1min 5.23secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
Trainer Steven Burridge, who was at a training double after Morales (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) took out the opener, said Lim’s Royal could have been at his third win with a little more luck.
“They went crazy in front and that worked out well for him,” said the Australian conditioner.
“He’s been promising right through and was unlucky the other day, he copped a squeeze 200m out and was still very green.
“I think he needs a bit more ground, too, and he should be able to measure up to better horses later on.”
