Aushorse Golden Horseshoe winner Lim’s Lightning picked up where he left off with a sensational comeback win on Friday night.
The promising son of Lope De Vega has not been seen since his brave head-win in the Group 2 two-year-old event over 1200m on July 13, but from the way he despatched his older rivals in the $80,000 Class 3 Division 1 race over 1200m, it was pretty obvious he was no juvenile flash in the pan.
Posted in a dream stalking spot outside race-leader Elise (Iskandar Rosman) from the get-go, Lim's Lightning (Troy See), who was backed down to $12 favouritism, was always travelling like a winner, just appearing to be biding his time for the last 300m to let rip.
When See let down the handbrakes at the 300m, Lim’s Lightning indeed took off instantly, opening up to a commanding break before longshot Moritz Eclipse (Marc Lerner) came with a cheeky late surge to trim down the margin to one length in second place, though it must be said See had already switched off the engine by then.
Galileo’s Approach (Matthew Kellady) also made some late ground to finish a creditable third another length away. The winning time was just 0.01 second shy of 1min 10secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
Burridge, whose Lim’s Revert - also ridden by See - won earlier, was glad the horse currently considered as arguably the best horse in his stable, had returned a winner, given he was not exactly an easy horse to gauge at times.
“As he’s an athletic sort, we can’t work him a lot. We have to do a bit of guessing if he’s done enough or not,” said Burridge.
“He had one trial last week which was nice, but nothing exceptionally good. More importantly, he came back clean in the wind, he’s a real racehorse.
“He does tend to do a little too much at times, and we just have to let him do his own things.
“Tonight, he hit the line very well. He’s a very smart horse with plenty of upsides, and he should get 1400m and even 1600m later.
“I’ll probably give him one or two more runs, and then put him away, without doing too much with him. He’s clearly something special.”
See, who finished unplaced aboard Kranji galloper Maximus in Korea last Sunday, was delighted he had come back to such a good night at the office back on his home soil, even if he had to waste hard to make the weight on Lim’s Lightning. In the end, he rode him half-a-kilo over at 53kgs.
“It’s a good way to bounce back after Korea,” said the current leading Singapore apprentice jockey, who has now stretched his lead in the premiership to six winners on defending champion apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen (24 versus 18 winners), who is currently suspended.
“Steven Burridge did a fantastic job with this horse. I just had to follow his instructions, and the horse did the rest.
“He’s one of the smartest trainers around, and it’s always a pleasure to ride for him.
“The horse had everything going for him in the race. He had a rabbit to chase.
“He actually beat us (in second, aboard Galvarino) in the Aushorse Golden Horseshoe, but it was good to get him with me on top this time.”
Lim’s Lightning has now taken his handy record to three wins and one third place from four starts for prizemoney hitting around the $280,000 mark for the Lim’s Stable.
