Seow-Axel combo excels again

 

A well-judged ride beyond her years from apprentice jockey Jerlyn Seow went a long way in steering Axel to a seventh win at Kranji on Saturday.

Adding more merit to the victory was the fact that the $50,000 Class 4 race over the Polytrack 1,700m did not quite unfold the way the backers of the $20 shot would have probably liked.

A few eyebrows must have been raised when the young woman got the Darci Brahma six-year-old out of his comfort zone in mid-race.

Her mount tackled joint-leaders Ace Sovereign (Ronnie Stewart) and Etwas Neues (Zyrul Nor Azman) to make it a line of three right at the top of the queue.

Nine out of 10 times, such premature exertions while punching the breeze come to grief.

But, on closer look, Seow had not really spent a penny on the horse, who is without a doubt one of her favourites.

Axel was her first career winner more than a year ago, on April 24.

Obviously, Seow, who went on to win on Axel one more time, knew the horse well.

Trainer Donna Logan's apprentice jockey waited until the turn before finally cutting the ribbons. Axel immediately bounded clear.

Etwas Neues who, on 50kg was in receipt of 21/2kg, was chipping away at the margin along the rails.

Riders and horses pulled out all the stops.

But it was Axel who preserved a slender advantage at the wire, at the same time denying Zyrul an early 34th birthday (on Sunday) present by a neck.

King Louis (Krisna Thangamani) finished pleasingly for third, 23/4 lengths away. The winning time was 1min 46.28sec for the 1,700m on the all-weather track.

With Logan still in New Zealand then, it was still all-girl power at the reception party for Axel's seventh win from 53 starts for the Te Akau Racing Stable.

"This horse never gives up. He's done a good job to win today," said Logan's indefatigable right-hand woman Chihiro Iizuka.

"The boss will be very happy with the results."

The yard got a deserving double after odds-on favourite Flashfast, billed by all and sundry as the nap of the day, broke his maiden status in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over the Polytrack mile earlier.

With Malaysian apprentice Iskandar Rosman unable to place in four rides, Seow reclaims the lead in the Singapore apprentice jockey's premiership.

Both riders are tied on nine winners each, but it's "ladies first" on a countback for seconds.

The close battle for junior supremacy is likely to carry on for a while, but Seow did not put her latest success down to any stroke of genius, just a solid understanding of Axel.

"This horse needs a lot of momentum. Today, I could not sit or hold him, so he just kept rolling," said Seow, who has now racked up 24 winners, more than half for her former master Mark Walker.

"I knew he would hit the line strong. He's a very nice horse, he knows what he's doing."

She may not say it, but so does the rider.