Trainer Patrick Shaw heaped praise on his apprentice jockey Mohd Firdaus following his never-say-die frontrunning winning ride aboard Mr Fantastic in the $80,000 Always Certain 2011 Stakes, a Kranji Stakes C race over 1600m on Sunday.
The South African handler said the Malaysian apprentice jockey followed his instructions to the letter by taking the race under his control from the get-go, and the Jet Master five-year-old responded in the best possible way by dictating from barrier to box, even if he did look under the cosh at the 300m.
Shaw’s battle plan was indeed working out to a tee until the top of the straight when Bring Money Home (Derreck David) came pouring the pressure with a stiff challenge. For a fleeting moment, the well-laid plan seemed to be coming unstuck as the Tan Hor Khoon-trained galloper drew on level terms, but Firdaus was not about to concede defeat so easily.
Changing his whip through to the right hand after Mr Fantastic ($26) suddenly lugged out, he got the his mount’s engine stoked up all the way to the line as he switched the whip back to the left hand for a most tenacious short-head victory over Bring Money Home.
Newlands (Vlad Duric) settled in a prominent spot while tracking up Bring Money Home from the outset, but stayed one-paced to run third another 2 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 35.61secs for the mile on the Long Course.
“The kid rode to instructions. They jumped out well and as there was no pace, they went to the front,” said Shaw.
“They got a soft lead, and I told him to sit and sit for as long as he could over the Long Course, and it’s paid off.
“Firdaus has not had the best of runs of late, with injuries and a drop in confidence and all that, but he’s a very competitive rider and I’m glad he’s bounced back.”
The Johor Bahru apprentice jockey, who led the log for a long time before his season went pear-shaped halfway through, said he was lucky to be sitting on a very game horse as to him a lesser horse would have capitulated.
“Everything went well until the 500m when the other horse came chasing after me,” said Firdaus.
“At the 400m, I woke him up, and he suddenly shifted out. I changed whip to the right hand and luckily, he gave me a strong good response and was able to hang on.”
Raced by the Avengers Stable, Mr Fantastic has now taken his handy record to six wins and seven placings from 20 starts for stakes earnings past the $320,000 mark.
Shaw brought home a training double later when $31 shot Song To The Moon (Nooresh Juglall) came from last to scrape paint through the entire length of the home straight for a most breathtaking last-stride win in the $60,000 Cheyenne Dancer 2009 Stakes, a Class 4 race over 1800m.
The Savabeel four-year-old scored by a short head from Silent Arrow (Antonio da Silva) with City Of Kirkwall (Danny Beasley) third another length away. The winning time was 1min 49.35secs for the 1800m on the Long Course.
