Jockey Danny Beasley and the Lim’s Stable were in great form on Friday night after they combined for a winning double courtesy of two favourites, Lim’s Operation and Lim’s Samurai.
The dynamic duo first visited the winner’s circle with Lim’s Operation ($19) in the $60,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m before saluting again four races later with Lim’s Samurai ($12) in the $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1400m.
The Australian rider, who takes the bulk of the rides for the Singapore champion owner, took two other rides for them, Lim’s Blast and Lim’s Sparkle, but could only finish fourth and third respectively.
Lim's Samurai (Danny Beasley, No 8) motors home to take out the Kranji Stakes C race.
But Beasley, who last Sunday week won a ‘black type’ race with the Stephen Gray-trained Lim’s Cruiser in the Group 3 Rocket Man Sprint, could not have been happier with the haul, especially as the winners were both first elects.
While he had to work a little harder for the Steven Burridge-trained Lim’s Operation to overhaul Whose Else’s (Vlad Duric) and Marea Negro (Derreck David) in a stirring finish, the win on Lim’s Samurai also saw him dig deep into his bag of tricks to outbattle a very tenacious White Hunter (Glen Boss) in the dying stages.
Beasley was full of praise for both victors, especially Lim’s Samurai, a Japanese-bred four-year-old trainer Laurie Laxon has pencilled in for bigger and better things this year.
“Lim’s Operation is a quirky little horse, but he still did a good job to score tonight. Lim’s Samurai has improved a lot from his first run back from a break, and showed a lot of improvement in his work,” said Beasley.
“He was well handicapped tonight (56.5kgs) and as he drew barrier two, he was able to get the box seat. The good thing about this horse is he has a high cruising speed and he can really kick after that.
“He can definitely go further. It’s great for the Lim’s Stable as they put so much money in racing here at the Singapore Turf Club, and I’m indebted to them for the support they give me.”
Laxon has long been talking up Lim’s Samurai, a son of Samurai Heart as his potential representative in the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge this year, and after that imposing win, he was already smacking his lips.
“He’s pretty smart this horse. He’s had eight starts for four wins and two seconds, not many can beat that,” said the nine-time Singapore champion trainer.
“He’s going for the 4YO series. The first two Legs (over 1400m and 1600m) will definitely be his go, and I would say he can go over 2000m as well.”
The first Leg is the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m) which kicks off on May 28 while the second Leg is the Group 1 Patron’s Bowl (1600m) on June 18 before the grand final, the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m), wraps it up on July 9.
While Lim’s Operation was at his second win in seven starts for stakes earnings closing in on the $100,000 mark, his stablemate Lim’s Samurai has had just one more start and has already banked in around $175,000.
