Win that is worth the weight

The Jason Ong-Marc Lerner pairing may become a more common sight at Kranji, following their first winning combination with Starboy on Jan 27.

The reigning Singapore champion trainer has seldom used the French jockey since he began training in 2019.

He does not have a stable rider per se, but Manoel Nunes, Koh Teck Huat and, lately, Bruno Queiroz would generally take the bulk of the rides.

Ong has thrown Lerner a bone once in a while.

Interestingly, two of them came aboard Ong's best horse to date, War Affair, albeit the former Singapore Horse of the Year was already way past his prime in 2020.

One could literally count on one hand the number of times they have teamed up in the last five years - five.

But, all of a sudden, that figure almost doubled in the last two weeks.

Pacific Charm's third place under Lerner on Jan 14 led to a first multiple-booking from Ong two weeks later on Jan 27 - three rides.

Lerner wasted no time in repaying Ong's trust with victory aboard the first leg - Starboy ($9) in the $20,000 Open Maiden race (1,200m).

The handicap of 54kg (he rode 1kg over) was a giveaway about which Ong runner the heavyweight jockey was keener on. Sirius (fifth) and Roda Robot (eighth) were later unsuccessful.

"It's my first win for Jason. It was worth wasting down to 55kg," said the Group 1-winning jockey, who rides mainly for Daniel Meagher, Stephen Gray and Jerome Tan.

"The horse was fit as he didn't run long ago. He was also knocking on the door, and I think he'll get better over more ground."

The Shooting To Win three-year-old mostly slipped under the radar early on, until he chalked up a third under Nunes at his fifth start in a Class 5 race (1,200m) on Dec 2.

Nunes went one better on him at his next two starts - both in Open Maiden Polytrack events, but was not to be the one to put the cherry on the top.

"It was the owner's (Tan Zheng Xuan) decision to put Marc on. Marc rode the horse well," said Ong, when probed about the switch.

"The horse's last start over 1,100m was a really good run, but I always thought he would like to go over a longer distance."

The 1,200m of the Open Maiden still did not make him a shoo-in even if he was punted down to solid $9 favouritism.

Ong was a little concerned about Starboy's inclination to get above himself in his races, hoping that Lerner could teach him to settle.

"It was a good educational run. We wanted to teach him how to chase," said Ong.

"I was just hoping to see him come off the pace and finish strongly. I wasn't worried where he was as I knew he had the turn of foot.

"Last time, Nunes had to ride him positive, but that was because it was over 1,100m."

The first 200m of the Jan 27 contest did not seem to run counter to that pattern, though.

Off to a bold start from a middle draw, Starboy had only Lim's Sinai (Sazali Ramli) ahead of him upon settling.

But, as the leader clapped on the speed, and with Central Luzon (Bruno Queiroz) not kicking up on the inside, Starboy was able to tuck in for the perfect trailing position on the rail.

Into the straight, both Starboy and Central Luzon gave chase, but the odds-on favourite was by far the better horse.

Despite Sazali's saddle slipping backwards from the 400m, Lim's Sinai did well to hang on for second place, one length away. Golden Eightyone (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) was third, another ½-length away.

The winning time was 1min 10.18sec for the 1,200m on the long course.

"He's a horse with a lot of upside. He's more relaxed now," said Ong.

"We'll see how he pulls up, and we'll then plan his future races."

manyan@sph.com.sg