Happy John and Young
Duo combine to score with Happy Friday and Arion Success
Jockey John Sundradas is certainly making hay while the sun shines.
Riding on a stay of sentence, following his appeal against a three-month suspension for not riding Super Talent to the satisfaction of the stewards on Feb 7, he landed a double at Kranji yesterday.
Both his winners, Happy Friday in Race 2 and Arion Success in Race 5, are trained by Young Keah Yong.
His double has brought his season's tally to eight winners. He is in joint-third in the overall riders' rankings, led by apprentice jockey Hakim Kamaruddin with 17 winners.
After two seconds, including his last start, and four thirds from 12 starts, Happy Friday finally gave his connections reasons to enjoy a first celebratory drink on Sunday.
The Sia Wei Kiang-owned four-year-old put it all together in the $20,000 Open Maiden race over 1,200m on the Polytrack to secure the supreme podium spot that had proven elusive thus far.
Stalking up the speed in a smothered spot behind the leaders, Happy Friday was produced at the right time inside the last 300m. He tackled the fighting pair of Ima (Simon Kok) and Wawasan (Wong Chin Chuen) before gainning the upperhand on Ima by half a length.
Wawasan looked a winning proposition when he drew on level terms with Ima halfway up the straight, but the Desmond Koh-trained galloper peaked on his run to settle for third, 3/8 lengths away.
Sent out at $25 for a win, Happy Friday clocked 1min 12.66sec. He has now collected more than $30,000 in prize money.
John, who prior to that breakthrough, rode Happy Friday to one third and two seconds, including the time the gelding was trained by Mark Walker, said the key to the win boiled down to leaving that run as late as possible.
"It's all about the timing. Last time, he kicked to the front too early and he stopped," he added.
"Today, the pace suited him and I waited longer for that last kick in the straight. It's just nice that the two horses in front kicked at the same time and were going at the same speed.
"That allowed us to chase them for a longer time. Everything went good for him today."
John brought Arion Success from further back than midfield to beat Winning Hobby by half a length in the $50,000 Class 4 event over the Poly 1,100m to pay a juicy $75 for a win.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now