New trainer Tan Kah Soon did not have to wait too long to saddle his first winner after General Conatus scored in a close finish on Sunday.
The Malaysian officially began training in his own right in Singapore on September 1, but it was not until September 29 that he could enter his first runners.
Tan, who took over mostly ex-Kranji trainer Sonny Yeoh’s horses (like General Conatus) and brought along with him some of his previous boss David Hill’s horses, was delighted General Conatus ($44) had given him that moment every trainer dreams of, fairly early – at his ninth runner and only into his second week since his debut.
The Conatus seven-year-old, who was Tan’s only runner of the day (after Evertrust was scratched), looked a touch dour as he came alongside Happy Joy (Mohd Zaki) a furlong out, but champion apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen (who incidentally goes back a long way with Tan) persevered with the gelding, who lunged at the line to get the verdict by a neck from Happy Joy.
Aladdin (Krisna Thangamani) ran third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 24.5secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
“I’m very happy to have my first winner. I’ve been working with horses for a long time - too long at times - and this was something I’ve been waiting for a while now,” said Tan.
“This horse got away too keen over 1700m at his last start and Jimmy (Wong) put his hand up and said he should have just let him roll.
“I dropped him back to 1400m today and we just let him lengthen up this time and it’s paid off. “
After originally honing his craft with his father, former Penang trainer Dr Tan Swee Hock and multiple-champion trainer Teh Choon Beng, Tan spread his wings overseas with none other than powerful racing conglomerate Godolphin for seven years.
When the former Marketing and Management graduate from Murdoch University in Perth returned to South-East Asia after he called time on his Blue Army days, the ultimate aim was to train his own horses one day.
But the mostly Newmarket-trained young man knew he had to first gain more local exposure through his father’s yard in Penang, followed by a short stint with ex-Kranji trainer Sam Chua and a much longer one with Hill across the Causeway.
Wong, the reigning Singapore champion apprentice jockey and current leader in this season’s log, actually owes his current success at Kranji, largely to Tan and his father.
“This is just a normal race, but the win is very important to me as Kah Soon and his father Dr Tan helped me to come to Singapore to ride for David Hill,” said Wong.
“I’m very happy I got him his first winner. The horse got a wide draw but he was able to slot in with cover and he won comfortably in the end.”
