Trainer Daniel Meagher could not have wished for a better way to celebrate a second happy arrival to his young family than a training double on Friday night.
Meagher became a dad for the second time after his Singaporean wife and former jockey Sabrina Kadir gave birth to a baby daughter named Harper Rose on May Day, but the couple had to, however, endure a few anxious times after the baby was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Thomson Medical Centre due to an infection.
Luckily, all is good now after their new bundle of joy pulled through and is due to go home tomorrow. The Meaghers already have a three-year-old son Caiden, who was born in Brisbane, Australia one year before Meagher moved to Singapore to train in 2016.
Meagher is the youngest of three sons of former Kranji mentor John Meagher whom he and brothers Chris and Paul helped throughout his 11 years (2000 to 2011) in Singapore. He carried on with the family training business in Brisbane but returned to his old hunting ground five years later after he was granted a licence to train in his own right.
The 34-year-old Australian is currently enjoying his best season thus far, sitting fourth on the Singapore trainer’s premiership on 22 winners, only two winners behind Michael Clements.
“It’s been a tough kind of week with the baby’s infection and then she had to go to the ICU,” said Meagher.
“But she’s all good now. Both mum and baby are doing well and will go back home tomorrow.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to my staff. It’s been a wonderful team effort as I had to take a day off; basically, I had to do the three “d’s” decide, delegate and disappear.
“I’m lucky to have good staff who can do the job when I’m not around, and tonight is a good result of that with two winners.”
While Mystic Pride, a well-supported $11 favourite, was an expected result in the $45,000 Class 4 Non Premier race over 1600m given he has been running in very good form, Dragon Duke, a newcomer from New Zealand who went out as the $679 rank-outsider three races later in the $60,000 Class 4 Premier speed dash over 1000m, was the bonus Meagher did not see coming at all - and certainly not punters.
“Mystic Pride is still green and new, but Mr Lim (Siah Mong) and Mark McLean let me train him the way I want,” said Meagher.
“This horse does not know a lot of things but I can train him to make him a better horse. He will get 1800m and further one day.
“As for Dragon Duke, it was a big surprise he won over 1000m first-up. He reminds me a lot of Secret Win who had similar form from New Zealand.
“I’m still learning about him and tonight really taught me a lot about him. He is a horse I also own and he definitely wants further.
The Bachelor Duke four-year-old was a maiden from five starts in New Zealand, but well handled by Meagher’s apprentice jockey Chin See Cheng and carrying Meagher's red silks, he steamed home on the outside to finish right over the top of a fighting trio made up of Super Six (Troy See), Cousteau (Vlad Duric) and Invincible Man (Zuriman Zulkifli).
Sporting blinkers for the first time, Mystic Pride, is turning into a handy sort for Meagher and the Lim’s & Mark’s Stable, having now brought up two wins from only eight starts and stakes money edging close to the $50,000 mark.
The Magic Albert four-year-old sure looked the goods when he collared race-leader Galileo’s Approach (Matthew Kellady) before leaving him in his dust 1 ¾ lengths away with Pennsylvania (Vlad Duric) third another 3 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 35.34secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.
Mystic Pride also gave Ryan Curatolo a race-to-race double after he scored earlier aboard Auspicious Day, but such is the vagaries of racing that the French jockey later hurt himself while taking Lim’s Rhythm to the starting gates in the next race and was later stood down from this three remaining engagements (see other report).
