Nova Swiss has a new jockey, with Nooresh Juglall saying the "lucky" appointment fell his way as he was available in the Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on Sunday.
Defeated for the first time at his sixth Kranji start, beaten only a neck by stablemate Infantry in the Merlion Trophy (1200m) on March 5, the Swiss Ace chestnut is aiming to return to winning ways in the first Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.
Juglall is the third rider to take the plum ride on the Nova Stable-owned galloper. Champion jockey Manoel Nunes rode him at his first five starts, winning all five but it was Olivier Placais who was given the leg-up at his last start in the Merlion Trophy.
With no nomination from trainer Ricardo Le Grange – Juglall's No 1 supporter - in the Sprint, the Mauritian jockey had no prior commitments and was subsequently approached for the ride on Nova Swiss.
"I got a lucky call. As I didn't have any ride in the Sprint, I agreed to ride Nova Swiss," said Juglall.
"He's a top chance. I galloped him this morning and he worked quite good. He doesn't show much in his trackwork, but you can tell he's an intelligent horse.
"Such horses save themselves for raceday; he knows when to put his best foot forward. Nova Swiss is a horse who beat me a few times, twice in second place with Board Walk and Ghost, so I've seen his backside a few times."
Given Nova Swiss's racing pattern of settling in the first few, Juglall is hoping to draw a good barrier on Sunday to give themselves every chance to take up a prominent spot.
"He needs to be up there. If he draws a good barrier, it will make his task easier," he said.
"My only concern is it's his first time on the turf and it'll be interesting to see how he handles that new surface. If the race was on Polytrack, I'd be a lot more confident.
"Anyway, Alwin has done a good job to keep him in good condition for so long. I just hope he runs well and gives me another feature win."
"We're in this game because we love winning races, especially in feature races," said Juglall.
"It'd be nice to get another one on my resume." -STC
Defeated for the first time at his sixth Kranji start, beaten only a neck by stablemate Infantry in the Merlion Trophy (1200m) on March 5, the Swiss Ace chestnut is aiming to return to winning ways in the first Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.
Juglall is the third rider to take the plum ride on the Nova Stable-owned galloper. Champion jockey Manoel Nunes rode him at his first five starts, winning all five but it was Olivier Placais who was given the leg-up at his last start in the Merlion Trophy.
With no nomination from trainer Ricardo Le Grange – Juglall's No 1 supporter - in the Sprint, the Mauritian jockey had no prior commitments and was subsequently approached for the ride on Nova Swiss.
"I got a lucky call. As I didn't have any ride in the Sprint, I agreed to ride Nova Swiss," said Juglall.
"He's a top chance. I galloped him this morning and he worked quite good. He doesn't show much in his trackwork, but you can tell he's an intelligent horse.
"Such horses save themselves for raceday; he knows when to put his best foot forward. Nova Swiss is a horse who beat me a few times, twice in second place with Board Walk and Ghost, so I've seen his backside a few times."
Given Nova Swiss's racing pattern of settling in the first few, Juglall is hoping to draw a good barrier on Sunday to give themselves every chance to take up a prominent spot.
"He needs to be up there. If he draws a good barrier, it will make his task easier," he said.
"My only concern is it's his first time on the turf and it'll be interesting to see how he handles that new surface. If the race was on Polytrack, I'd be a lot more confident.
"Anyway, Alwin has done a good job to keep him in good condition for so long. I just hope he runs well and gives me another feature win."
"We're in this game because we love winning races, especially in feature races," said Juglall.
"It'd be nice to get another one on my resume." -STC