Happy coincidences were abound for both trainer Mok Zhan Lun and jockey Lisa Allpress as they each ended their six-week wait on Sunday.
The Australian-bred gelding had never placed at his nine previous starts and had finished more than five lengths behind the winner in all those outings while his best effort was a sixth last September. Support from punters was therefore muted as the chestnut galloper was given little chance at $146.
But none of that seemed to matter and the form book was thrown out of the window at the 10th time of asking as Virgin Galactic stormed home in stunning fashion to beat $8 favourite Stormy Along (Mohd Zaki) by two-and-a-half lengths with Katong Park (Oscar Chavez) a head away in third. The winning time on the Polytrack was 1min 2.22secs.
Allpress’ last visit to the winner’s circle came on June 29, the same day that Mok also last saddled a winner. In another sign of happenstance, Mok’s winning runner on that afternoon in June was Marvel Stable-owned Panama City, who races under the same silk colours as Virgin Galactic.
“It’s been very quiet for me for a few weeks now and sometimes you need some luck to turn things around,” said the Singaporean handler, who moved up to 15 wins for the year. “Both horses are from the same owners so maybe that’s a lucky sign and he pulled off a surprise for us today and hopefully it will lead to more winners for me for the rest of the year.”
The past six weeks have been an equally frustrating time for Allpress, who has been knocking on the door for her 23rd victory on a number of occasions only to be denied by some narrow margins.
“Definitely feeling like it’s been forever since I won one,” said the Kiwi hoop. “I’ve had a lot of placings during this time, seconds and thirds, but just kept getting beat by a better horse on the day.
“It’s not as if I was lacking in support in terms of horses but maybe I was not having the best of luck in picking the right horse. I was starting to think I’d never win again.”
Her prospects of putting an end to this dry spell looked as bleak as the clouds that delivered a thunderstorm in the previous race when Stormy Along took off like a rocket and was threatening to run away with the contest but the John O’Hara-trained chestnut once again faltered down the stretch to record his eight runner-up finish from 16 starts, to the visible annoyance of his conditioner.
Witnessing such a stuttering finish only served to galvanise Allpress and her mount and they duly took full advantage. Having opted to stay away from the fence following the earlier downpour, her belief that a wider route with just five furlongs to cover was vindicated as there was plenty of space for Virgin Galactic to stretch his legs and motor home.
“I wanted him (Virgin Galactic) to stay wide as that’s the best part of the track when it rains like that here,” she said.
Also giving the thumbs up for her tactical ploy was Mok. He said: “There were just eight runners and it wasn’t a strong maiden field. Lisa did a great job and the horse ran on very well at the end.
Prior to his maiden triumph, Virgin Galactic, by Zizou out of Pottinger, had collected just $1,800 in his career but has now crossed the $21,000 mark thanks to this winning effort.
