Resuming Group 3 El Dorado Classic winner Secret Win sprang the upset of the night with a typical come-from-behind win first-up from an eight-month spell on Friday.
What was even more extraordinary was that he led a most astounding 1-2 for trainer Daniel Meagher with another longshot, Good News (Chin Chee Seng), a nose-second in the $100,000 Class 2 race over 1200m. At $243, Secret Win was the second-least backed runner in the 11-horse field with Good News the rank-outsider at $337.
And it gets better. Meagher actually had the three least-backed contenders in the event with Absolute Miracle (Olivier Placais) also friendless at $215. If not for Dinghu Mountain (John Powell) gatecrashing the party by squeezing in between the Meagher trio when beating Absolute Miracle to third place by half-a-length, the young Australian handler would have hit the jackpot with a trifecta which would have returned a lot more than the already sizeable $7,861 payout for the Secret Win-Good News-Dinghu Mountain 1-2-3.
But Meagher could not be too greedy. A win from any would have been a “Miracle” as he told the media pre-race, and now to get a win, let alone the forecast, he will grab the dream result with both hands.
Set onto a 1200m race for Class 2 gallopers who featured the likes of Tannhauser, Caorunn and Darc Bounty, Secret Win was not expected to come through over a distance not made to suit, especially after such a long absence.
But Benny Woodworth, the Haradasun five-year-old’s winning partner in the El Dorado Classic over 2200m, rode him like he was the best horse in the race – putting him to sleep as soon as he dawdled out at the back before setting him alight on the outside for his customary late rush.
At the 500m, Secret Win had the demeanour of an outpaced stayer who might just fly late for a place at best, but that impression changed dramatically in the next 200m as he started to motor home with a threatening charge while the better-supported protagonists like Tannhauser (Ryan Curatolo), Darc Bounty (Glen Boss) and Guilty Pleasures (Emily Finnegan) were not cutting much ice.
Secret Win rounded up the field in one fell swoop, but had an unexpected friendly foe in stablemate Good News to contend with inside the last 150m.
The former Tan Hor Khoon-trained Polytrack specialist, who had not been the bearer of Good News as his name suggests at his last runs, suddenly found his mojo back as he stuck to the task with a stinging challenge on the inside.
The Meagher tandem thrashed it out all the way to the line, with Secret Win getting the nod by a whisker. Dinghu Mountain ran third another 2 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.32secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Meagher looked all stunned at the winner’s circle, but not in silence as the affable handler always has a few nuggets of wisdom to share.
“Dad (John Meagher) always told me that stayers when fresh-up, if there is a sting out of the ground, they can win over sprints first-up,” said the youngest son of the former Kranji mentor.
“I honestly didn’t think he could win as he was against horses who looked too good in this Class - for sprinting types that is.
“But he likes his races spaced and he was fit. I gave him three trials going into tonight’s race and I was hoping for a good run. There was a lot of speed in the race, and like I said, stayers when fresh, they can really sprint at times.
“The second horse (Good News) ran a fantastic race. I actually thought he won!
“It’s good to see him get back to form, and it’s also good to see Secret Win score first-up as it’s taken a long time to get him back.
“It’s fantastic for his owner who has been very patient, and it’s good for Benny, too. Hopefully he pulls up well and healthy, and Gold Cup, here we come.”
Meagher has pencilled in the middle-distance features at the end of the year as Secret Win’s main targets, namely the revamped Singapore Triple Crown series now made up of the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1800m), Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Cup (1800m) and the Group 1 Dester Singapore Gold Cup (2000m).
Woodworth is odds-on to be a big part in that lofty campaign having now partnered Secret Win at all his 14 starts bar two, and all his three wins.
“It’s nice to win on this horse. He came from last,” said the Malaysian hoop.
“Yes, he dropped to the rear, but if you travel close behind the second-last horse, you know he will finish strongly.
“He had a tendency to lay in but he was travelling too well and got the job done in the end.”
A one-time winner at Te Teko over 1600m under current Kranji expat jockey Alysha Collett when known as Houghton in New Zealand, Secret Win has now amassed close to $210,000 in local stakes earnings for his owner Chua Poh Seng.
The main disappointment was $15 favourite Tannhauser who settled worse than midfield throughout, but found little when Curatolo called upon him at the top of the straight. He beat one (Caorunn) home.
