Trainer Hideyuki Takaoka collected his 300th victory in Singapore when Tangible Assets took out the $55,000 Class 4 race over 1800m on Wednesday.
Ridden by Danny Beasley, the Japanese-bred gelding held off Flying Ahead (Alan Munro) by a neck in a winning time of 1min 49.99sec with Super Victory (Barend Vorster) two-and-a-half-lengths away in third.
Known for his success with long distance runners, the Japanese handler has worked with several champion stayers including El Dorado, Better Life and Jolie’s Shinju and it was apt that he would celebrate the landmark win on New Year’s Day with another stayer in Tangible Assets.
“I’ve been in Singapore for 11 years and I’ve very proud to have reached this number,” said Takaoka. “I’m actually quite surprised because I didn’t even realise I was this close to 300 winners.”
That he achieved this milestone with Tangible Assets, who was unfavoured among the six runners and priced at $56, was unexpected though. This was just his third victory in 20 starts while his last win was 626 days ago.
“He’s been troubled by a stomach ulcer for a long time and that affected his racing but he’s almost fully recovered now,” said Takaoka.
“The last few runs, his form has not been there,” he said. “And not just his form but his mind as well, he just wasn’t fully focused on racing.
“Today was different though. He ran very well and I felt that throughout the race his concentration levels were very high.”
It was a sentiment shared by jockey Beasley, who kept his mount in a handy position for the majority of the trip before easing him forward down the straight as the other runners failed to keep pace.
“Mr Takaoka indicated that the horse had been ingenuine in his last couple of races and told me to keep him sharp because he has a tendency to go to sleep in the race,” he said.
“So I kept him on the bridle and in a forward position and after that, like many of Mr Takaoka’s horses who have superior levels of fitness he just handled the 1800m trip better than the rest.”
The six-year-old brown gelding by Stay Gold from Harbor Ojo has now earned almost $200,000 in prizemoney for owners the Big Valley Stable.
