The connections of Dixieland Rock must have shouted themselves hoarse as their newcomer got up in the last dive to win first-up at long odds at Kranji last night.
As the third least-backed runner in the $85,000 Restricted Maiden event over the Polytrack 1,200m, the Alwin Tan-trained two-year-old Australian-bred, who cost A$130,000 (S$132,000), rewarded his backers with a $188 win payout.
The brown gelding was the second successive boilover, following the opening event's victory by the Young Keah Yong-trained Money King, who paid $157 as the second least-backed of 13 runners.
The Young-Fifth Kingdom Stable combination scored a double when Racer King took Race 3 as the $18 second favourite. Both Money King and Racer King were previously trained by Theo Kieser, who relinquished his Malayan Racing Association trainer's licence on Monday.
Back to Dixieland Rock, the horse appeared to run about round the bend and straightened very wide but his barnstorming finish certainly augurs well for his future.
It was also his light weight, 49.5kg for two-year-olds, compared to 57kg for three-year-olds that made the difference between winning and losing.
Promising apprentice Simon Kok Wei Hoong jumped Dixieland Rock out well but had to nurse his mount to keep up with the pace. He was slightly worse than midfield.
The Cliff Brown-trained Lonhro Gold set the pace and stayed glued to the rails and straightened up from stablemate Kranji Gold.
The Leslie Khoo-trained Hooga Net loomed up menacingly. Dixieland Rock and the $10 favourite Ground Attack were still well back and straightened up very wide.
Jockey Nooresh Juglall drove Hooga Net past the Brown pair in the final 150m and probably thought he had won. But Kok persevered. He had several lengths to make up. Under his whip riding, Dixieland narrowed the gap gradually and, with luck, got up in the last couple of bounces to beat Hooga Net (57kg) by a neck in 1min 12.88sec.
Kok said trainer Tan told him to jump out well and be where he was comfortable. But, if his mount, stayed too far back, he had to try and work him up early.
"He jumped quite good and he travelled good. He was just a little green at the corner, where there were some interferences. But he seemed all right and he hit the line strongly," he added.
Trainer Tan will now look at the remaining legs of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe Series, which culminates in the $325,000 Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe over 1,200m on turf on July 13.
Friday's South Africa results
RACE 1
1st 2 Adriano's Triumph ($18-$7)
2nd 5 Ex Nihilo ($8)
3rd 4 Catchthemaster ($8)
4th 3 Captain Parker
Forecast $12
Place Forecast (2-5) $6, (2-4) $8, (4-5) $7
Tierce $98
Trio $19
Quartet $2,792
RACE 2
1st 3 Peg Of Zeus ($51-$10)
2nd 2 Supreme Winter ($6)
3rd 1 Perfect Peace ($7)
4th 6 Sleek Gold
Forecast $18
Place Forecast (2-3) $8, (1-3) $10, (1-2) $4
Tierce $160
Trio $14
Quartet No winner ($948 carried forward to next race)
RACE 3
1st 2 National Park ($15-$7)
2nd 6 Finley Hill ($6)
3rd 3 Say No More ($7)
4th 9 Pomaceous
Forecast $14
Place Forecast (2-6) $5, (2-3) $4, (3-6) $5
Tierce $46
Trio $6
Quartet $200
RACE 4
1st 3 Kimberley Star ($21-$7)
2nd 5 It Is Written ($11)
3rd 9 King Django ($14)
4th 1 Gimme The Stars
Forecast $53
Place Forecast (3-5) $13, (3-9) $13, (5-9) $39
Tierce $800
Trio $150
Quartet No winner ($288 carried forward)
RACE 5
1st 4 Tombodi ($37-$13)
2nd 7 Icarus Flight ($8)
3rd 12 Highland Captain ($29)
4th 2 Wish To Land
Forecast $42
Place Forecast (4-7) $15, (4-12) $45, (7-12) $37
Tierce $922 Trio $299
Quartet No winner ($542 carried forward)
RACE 6
1st 8 Seeking Wisdom ($72-$22)
2nd 3 Aviatrix ($13)
3rd 4 Gitango Tonight ($41)
4th 2 Lucky Lulu
Forecast $138
Place Forecast (3-8) $34, (4-8) $116, (3-4) $59
Tierce $1,714 Trio $634
Quartet No winner ($718 carried forward)
Scratching: 17 Cosmo Russe
RACE 7
1st 2 Grandissimo ($13-$9)
1st 4 Rokatenda ($45-$23)
3rd 9 Fort Viva ($27)
4th 8 Data Link
Forecast $116
Place Forecast (2-4) $31, (2-9) $60, (4-9) $121
Tierce No winner ($4,520 carried forward) Trio $1,165
Quartet No winner ($1,602 carried forward)
RACE 8
1st 7 Madame Speaker ($32-$10)
2nd 8 March Music ($11)
3rd 6 Klever Kathy ($15)
4th 5 Just Chaos
Forecast $55
Place Forecast (7-8) $14, (6-7) $13, (6-8) $19
Tierce $639 Trio $117
Quartet $1,709, ($1,865 carried forwrad to today's SA meeting)
Scratching: 10 Seattle Mermaid
