Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes reached another significant milestone when he booted home his 300th winner on Friday night.
The Brazilian jockey enjoyed an armchair ride aboard Blossoms Sequel ($25) in the $38,000 The Wolf Blass Cup Kranji Stakes D race over 1800m to bring up his 79th win for the year, a score which could have soared to a higher level if not for lengthy suspensions, with the longest time on the sidelines being one month for weighing in light after a race.
But Nunes, who tallied up 299 wins one race earlier with Cash Box, could not complain with the way things were coming along despite his stop-and-start season given he still held a healthy margin of 28 wins over the next best Michael Rodd on the local jockeys’ log.
Whether the former six-time Macau champion jockey was well on his way to his second local title remains to be seen, but for now, he was just happy to bask in the moment of his latest landmark.
“When I first came here in 2013, I arrived as the No 1 jockey from Macau, but I still didn’t know how I would do against jockeys like Joao (Moreira), and I’m afraid I might forget other names, but they are all very competitive,” said Nunes.
“But the good results have been coming and I’m glad I was champion last year. I have to thank the trainers and the owners for the support, as well as the Singapore Turf Club for giving me the opportunity to ride here.”
Nunes said the way his 300th Kranji winner romped in by six lengths may have looked easy, but he was still unsure how the race would pan out as he headed out to the barriers as he was not the most straightforward of horses to ride.
“He’s quite a difficult horse to ride as he hangs in quite bad. The boy probably could not quite handle him at his last run.
“But I was lucky and got a lovely ride throughout and when I pushed the button at the top of the straight, he just blew them away.”
Blossoms Sequel, who was having only his fifth run for Laxon, having been under the care of trainer Sonny Yeoh at his first 16 runs (which yielded two wins over 1600m and 1700m), is a five-year-old by Royal Academy and has now brought up stakes earnings in excess of $120,000 for the Tivic Stable.
Laxon agreed that he has a good motor but just needed a few tune-ups to get him right. Blinker-pacifiers and pacifiers had been fitted to the gelding since Laxon took over, and the tinkering with the gear seems to have finally paid off.
“He’s not a bad horse, and Manoel has improved him tonight,” said the Kiwi trainer who was at his first lead-in since returning from his French holidays on Sunday.
“The boys had the horse ready for this race. They have done a great job while I was away.
“My trip was good and I also bought a couple of horses there.”
