Australian jockey Danny Beasley hit a major milestone on Friday night when he claimed his 500
th Kranji win aboard even-money favourite Chalaza.
The former Golden Slipper-winning jockey (2003 with Polar Success) actually weighed back in after the $35,000 Open Maiden race over 1400m, like it was just another routine win, but his face lit up a few minutes later when he was congratulated by fellow riders as he walked back into the jockeys' room.
"I knew I was one win short after I won on Aramco last Sunday, but I've been so focused on my rides tonight that I completely forgot about it, until they said 'well done, Dan!' downstairs," said Beasley who has been plying his trade at Kranji since 2007 bar 2015.
"This win means a lot to me as I consider Singapore like home now. If not for the support I've received from the trainers and owners here, I wouldn't be where I am at now.
"I've enjoyed great success back in Australia, especially during my time with trainers like Guy Walter and Gai Waterhouse and horses like Grand Armee and Victory Vein, but this is another chapter of my riding career and I'm glad it's going very well.
"I've been associated with a lot of good horses here at Kranji, especially War Affair, Affleck, and this 500th winner may be just a maiden winner, but it's still a memorable win."
Beasley said Chalaza, who was at only his second start following his flying debut second (in which he was also aboard) two weeks ago, had what it took to go through his grades.
Over racing a touch when they slackened up the pace midrace, the Road To Rock four-year-old had to go around horses to sit outside race-leader What Iff (Glen Boss) before going for broke shortly after rounding the home turn.
In a few strides, Chalaza opened up to a commanding break, which looked like it was already a done deal until Sacred Army (John Powell) jumped out of the ground to make it an interesting contest inside the last furlong.
The second-elect did whittle down the margin, and Chalaza was also feeling the pinch, but the final winning margin was still a comfortable one length in the end. Libeccio (Vlad Duric) ran third another gap of close to five lengths away. The winning time was 1min 23.58secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
"When they steadied up the pace, he got a little keen. As he had 58kgs on his back, I didn't want to pull him back and that's why I let him go three deep and let him do his own things," said Beasley.
"It may look like I hit the front too soon, but I thought Michael Rodd's horse (Laughing Buffalo) would be the hardest to beat, and when I saw he was back in midfield, I thought I'd steal a march on him and let him catch us."
Winning trainer Steven Burridge was certainly delighted the Lim's & Mark's Stable-owned galloper has quickly shown early potential after only two runs.
"He's a late-maturing sort, but he has a good cruising speed and he will definitely get better over more distance later on," said the Australian handler.
"On his first run, we gave him a good chance tonight. He did over race a little when they slowed up the pace, and Danny did the right thing to let him roll around."
Right after Beasley put that half-a-tonne of winners astern, he actually went on to add two more in rapid succession, courtesy of two favourites.
Noted for his judgement of pace, Beasley showed his perfect sense of timing in the next race, the Class 4 Division 2 race over 1200m when $16 favourite Lim's Knight flew from near-last to nail Keltic Karma (Vlad Duric) by a neck with Heracles (Chan Wei Sheng) third another short head away. The winning time was 1min 10.62secs.
Hungrier for more, Beasley turned in another faultless ride in the next race, the $65,000 Initiation race over 1200m, aboard odds-on favourite Bayu ($9). Knocking on the door for a while, the Per Incanto four-year-old came out the victor from a two-horse duel with the other well-tried runner Leon (Duric, $18), prevailing by half-a-length. The winning time was 1min 10.86secs.
The hat-trick of wins has seen Beasley leapfrog over Gerald Mosse and John Powell to sit in seventh spot on nine winners. -STC
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