Birthday boy's riding tip to Jamil is Gold

There is no better gratification for a teacher or coach when the stuff taught in class pays off.

For Saimee Jumaat, the fuzzy feeling of seeing apprentice jockey Jamil Sarwi apply one of his tips towards his win aboard Silent Is Gold on Jan 20 was all the more special for another reason.

The former eight-time Singapore champion jockey was celebrating his 52nd birthday, not to mention that the winner is a horse he personally looks after for his old stalwart owner Buddy Buddy Stable when he was a trainer himself.

Now cutting a lower profile as assistant trainer to Stephen Gray, Saimee is one of those unsung heroes - both as horseman and riding mentor.

Talent-spotted by Saimee when he worked as one of his syces, Jamil sang his former master's praises, too.

In the $100,000 Class 1 race (1,200m), Silent Is Gold ($28) seemed to have his 10 rivals, including favourite Golden Monkey, safely held when he came off a trailing position to leader Sky Eye (Bruno Queiroz) to skip clear at the 300m.

But when 2023 Singapore Derby winner Golden Monkey came chipping away at his lead under Vlad Duric's hard riding, another second place to that behind Super Salute at his last outing on Dec 17 looked a foregone conclusion.

Horse and jockey were on the ropes, but Jamil suddenly remembered one of Saimee's nuggets of advice.

"I had the whip in my right hand. But when my horse started to stop, I changed the whip to the left hand and he responded," said the Marine Parade resident.

"It's Saimee who told me about this trick. It came in handy at the right time."

Post-race, Saimee proudly beamed with a sense of satisfaction as he waited for Silent Is Gold ($28) at the sheltered area used for lead-ins during rainy weather.

"Most jockeys use only the right hand. I was able to use both in my time, but I saw no reason why someone like Jamil cannot pick it up," said the winner of more than 1,300 races as a jockey and 71 winners in four seasons as a trainer between 2017 and 2020.

"Before the race, I told Jamil that this horse has never been hit with the whip in the left hand before. I told him he should try something different.

"Luckily, he listened to me at a crucial stage of the race, and the horse went again. That made all the difference between winning and losing.

"Silent Is Gold's win was a nice birthday present. But to have Jamil listen to me and win also made me very happy."

Jamil, who finished runner-up to 2023 champion apprentice Jerlyn Seow, currently tops the 2024 leaderboard on three wins, one more than Seow.

One race before Silent Is Gold's win, Jamil produced another heady ride by coming from last aboard Axel ($65) for his master Donna Logan in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1,400m).

As much as learning little tricks of the trade was useful for the 26-year-old three-kilo claimer, his perfect handling of Silent Is Gold showed he was mastering the basics down pat.

"I was told to let Sky Eye go forward and sit close," he said.

"My horse jumped pretty well and I was able to sit one length off Sky Eye.

"Turning for home, I still had a lapful. When I asked him to go, he shot to the front, and held on well."

Gray, who does book Jamil a fair bit, put Silent Is Gold's seventh win down to both his horse's and young rider's abilities.

But the New Zealander also conceded that the result could have been reversed if not for Jamil's 3kg claim.

"Silent Is Gold's a quick little horse. He's running well and the boy rides him well," he said.

"He's a good horse for apprentices, he's won twice with Fahmi (Rosman). He also won with (senior local rider) Shafrizal (Saleh).

"I told Jamil to go forward as that's the best way to ride him and he never panicked.

"You can't beat weights. Golden Monkey had 59kg and we had only 50.5kg - that is a pull of 8.5kg."

Gray, who finished eighth on 32 winners in 2023, was incidentally opening his account for the new season. To be fair, he did not saddle many runners - only seven - at the first two meetings.

That was, however, the same number of runners he fielded on Jan 20, with Silent Is Gold clearly the best chance while two others, Hugo and Our Pinnacle, finished in the money.

manyan@sph.com.sg

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