Lover Boy turns on the charm

If Ricardo Le Grange could help it, Lover Boy would probably not have waited until his seventh start on June 1 to open his Kranji account.

Due to external factors beyond his control, the South African trainer had to cut corners, which went against his better judgment.

The well-bred son of All Too Hard was sent to the races in August, six months after he landed in his yard as a two-year-old in February 2023.

As a rule of thumb, that time frame would usually be more than adequate for unraced newcomers to become race-ready. But, in this case, Le Grange felt the gross gelding still needed more time to furnish out.

However, with the Oct 5 closure suddenly cutting the runway shorter, Le Grange had to fast-track his prep.

Either way, Lover Boy did not come cheap for Filipino owner Sandy Javier. As an investment of A$160,000 (S$143,800) from the Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale in October 2022, he was expected to yield some returns sooner rather than later.

With only one third to show for in six starts, doubts might have surfaced, but Le Grange always backed his risk management of that horse.

"The proverbial penny has finally dropped," he said.

"He was a lovely colt when I bought him, very correct. I thought he'd do well here.

"I always knew he wasn't a two-year-old, though. He's too soft-boned and, anywhere else in the world, we would have tipped him out first.

"But he's actually done good work at home. It's just that he was very immature and has also been unlucky with the draws.

"I have no doubt that the older he gets, the better he'll get."

Distance is the other factor that Le Grange believes will bring out the best in Lover Boy.

"We thought the 1,100m might be too short, but everything went well," he said.

"From the way he finished off, I have no doubt he can go over 1,400m and even 1,600m - and grass is no problem either."

The nippy pace left race-leader Thunderstorm (Manoel Nunes) a sitting duck for three backmarkers in the home straight, with Lover Boy (Bernardo Pinheiro) producing the better dash on the outside.

A brilliant first-up second at her last start, Sacred Order (Ryan Curatolo) could not quite land the final blow when she collared Thunderstorm, but boxed on well for second, a neck away.

Wins Eight (Ruan Maia) also joined the fray to pick up third place, another nose away. The winning time was 1min 05.69sec for the 1,100m on Polytrack.

"I know this horse well as I worked with him last time when he was still a baby," said Pinheiro.

"He's a nice horse, but still raw. Ricky has been very patient with him, just kept working him.

"We knew it was a bit short today, but we were still confident he was in very good form.

"We were hoping there would be plenty of speed and he would then finish off very well.

"It worked out very well. He'll get better over more ground."

Lover Boy is the eighth winner among a yard of 10 horses Javier races with Le Grange, the two most famous ones being dual Group winners Bestseller and Ace Of Diamonds. The latter claimed the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1,600m) on May 18.

"It's always a pleasure to train another winner for Sandy and Karen. I can't thank them enough for their wonderful support," said Le Grange.

"Lover Boy was among the few left who had not won yet. There's only Tons Of Sand and Trusted One left.

"Let's hope they can also win at least one race before we close down."

manyan@sph.com.sg