Trainer Theo Kieser was all smiles on Friday after his only runner of the night, Sebas, was right on target in the $100,000 Open Benchmark 97 race over 1000m.
The South African handler has by all accounts endured a tough year this season, probably the toughest since he began training at Kranji in 2009. Right up till May, he had only three winners on board, not to mention the extra headache of seeing a string seriously depleted with the departure of the Titanium Racing horses.
But after two-year-old First Choice – who incidentally runs in the Group 3 Juvenile Championship (1400m) on Sunday - brought some cheers back two weeks ago (July 14), it would appear that his season is finally gaining some traction with Sebas coming up trumps in his favourite go-to-whoa tactics.
Often pegged back in the home straight, the fleet-footed son of Exceed And Excel, who has not saluted in more than a year (since July 17, 2016), was able to thwart all challenges this time around, largely thanks to a gem of a ride from Glen Boss.
Ridden for the first time by the top Australian jockey, Sebas ($26) flew the lids to take up the running from favourite Nova Swiss (Manoel Nunes) and Pioneer Seven (Benny Woodworth).
The pace was steady without being a scorcher, hence the fairly close proximity of most of his nine rivals as they swung for home.
When Nova Swiss was again seen not improving as expected, you could already strike him out of the equation at the 300m, but Olympic Anthem (Michael Rodd), who had been buried away on the rails for most of the speed scamper, was running a blinder hard up against the rails.
For a second, it looked like Sebas would again have to settle for a minor prize cheque, but Boss had other ideas. As he got stuck into his mount with renewed vigour, Kieser’s courageous ward responded in the best possible way with another rally to hold Olympic Anthem safely at bay by half-a-length.
Golden Tomahawk (Derreck David) came up with a late run to finish third another three parts of a length away. The winning time was 58.55 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
“His main problem is his feet, or else he ticks all the right boxes,” said Kieser.
“He has been coming back with a sore foot at his last few runs. Glen was a bit late out of the jockeys’ room, and he just told me to walk and talk, and he’s gone out and given him a perfect ride.”
Boss was certainly seen at his supreme best on the valiant sprinter who was ringing up his ninth career win and more than $550,000 in stakes earnings for his owner, the Eagle Eye Stable led by Mr Rodney Too.
“He was very sharp and always controlled the race. He’s a horse who always has half-a-length up his sleeve,” said Boss.
“The rest were chasing him down fast, but he’s got that extra little kick. That’s why they just can’t pass him.”
