Young apprentice jockey Hanafi Noorman made the most of his solitary ride on Sunday by turning it into a second career winner.
Mark Walker’s apprentice jockey does not enjoy a raft of opportunities like the more in-demand apprentice jockeys such as Wong Chin Chuen, Troy See or Simon Kok Wei Hoong command, but his polished display aboard Shaqraa in the $60,000 Class 4 Premier race over 1100m could not be a better advertisement of his burgeoning riding ability.
Though caught three wide without cover in midfield, Shaqraa kept raising a strong gallop when he entered the home straight. Favourite Glengallon (Craig Grylls) tried to make all like he did at his debut win, but he could not kick clear this time.
Good Catch (Chan Wei Sheng) and Fusion Power (Vlad Duric) were the first to pounce on the faltering top fancy, but right on the outside, Shaqraa produced a much stronger dash.
Effortless (John Powell) surged from the ruck in a late attempt to run Shaqraa down, but could only fall in within a length in second place. Good Catch ran third another 1 ¼ lengths away.
Raced by the Al-Arabiya Stable for trainer Young Keah Yong, Shaqraa ($57), a six-year-old by Fully Fledged recorded the winning time of 1min 5.72secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
“I did my homework and I saw that this horse won by travelling on the outside before. I was not worried he was three deep today,” said Hanafi.
“He also jumped better this time, and was always on the bit, and I think the blinkers also helped him. It’s nice to get my first win for the year.”
Formerly trained in New Zealand where he rode a couple of placegetters, Hanafi, 26, rode his first winner aboard Haytham – also raced by Al-Arabiya Stable but trained by his boss Walker – on October 20, 2017.
Young said the fact that Hanafi was able to settle Shaqraa closer to the speed was the winning move.
“He’s quite unpredictable this horse, because when he is off the speed, he is more likely to get into trouble,” said the Singaporean trainer.
“Today, the apprentice jockey got him closer to the early speed and he was able to overcome that problem. I told him to reserve his energy and wait for the straight.
“The horse was never far from the leading bunch and in the straight, he gave a good kick to win a nice race. This was his third run for me and I’m glad I got my first winner for the Al-Arabiya Stable.”
A two-time winner (1000m and 1100m) for his previous handler Shane Baertschiger, Shaqraa has now taken his stakes earnings close to the $140,000 mark for the Al-Arabiya Stable.
