A smart go-forward ride from Krisna Thangamani on longshot Nowyousee (NZ) (O’Reilly) rewarded the Malaysian apprentice jockey with his first Singapore Group win in the Sing Gr.3 New Year Cup (1200m) on Wednesday.
Trainer Ricardo Le Grange’s protégé stole the race when the O’Reilly five-year-old responded to his urgings at barrier rise to spring to the front, a strategy arguably made easier by favourite Bold Thruster (Turffontein) bombing the start and trailing the field by four lengths upon despatch.
Once in command, Krisna allowed his fleet-footed customer to stride along within his own steam ahead of last year’s New Year Cup winner Constant Justice (Magnus) and the unbeaten Surpass Natural (Elvstroem) hugging the rails in third place.
Meanwhile, Bold Thruster still had his legion of backers clinging to a shred of hope when he started circumnavigating the field around the last bend, seemingly still with some unspent petrol left in the tank.
But that illusion was soon shattered when Krisna released the brakes at the top of the straight. Nowyousee, who had only 50kgs on his back, took flight like he had never been tested throughout the run, widening the margin before jogging in with three lengths to spare.
While the $139 odds suggested not many had dared believe in Nowyousee’s chances, the New Year Cup triumph finally gave credence to the Group material tag the Titanium Racing Stable-owned galloper had long been slapped with.
At the peak of his powers, Nowyousee reeled off six wins (all on Polytrack) under two different trainers, Le Grange and Lee Freedman. He then went through a winless patch, only to bounce back at the right time at elite level in the traditional curtain raiser.
New trainer Tan Kah Soon might not have been that bullish given the quality field his charge was pitted against, but he was not all that surprised either the speedy customer has finally come through in a big race.
“Daniel Moor said he was flattened after one his races. He got tired and we gave him a break,” said the Penang-born conditioner.
“We always planned to make him come back in this race. Amirul (Ismadi) was meant to ride him, but he couldn’t.
“I had a dream Krisna would ride a black horse for us and I chucked him on this one, even if he’s not really black – and there you go. Credit must also go to (Singapore Turf Club riding coach) Matthew Pumpa, who has really improved Krisna.”
That seventh success coupled with seven placings have boosted Nowyousee’s earnings past the $450,000 mark for Jeffrey Soh’s Titanium Racing Stable.
