Useful sprinter Mighty Conqueror never gave his legion of backers any anxious moments in the $60,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m on Friday night.
From the moment the Mark Walker-trained Patapan four-year-old hit terra firma from barrier No 1, he went on to dictate terms at his own leisure. It did not take long for his rivals to realise they had their work cut out when he swung homeward-bound, full of running and still not tested by apprentice jockey Zawari Razali.
The moment the Kelantan-born rider did, the response was immediate. Pinning his ears back, Mighty Conqueror lived up to his name as he quickly parted company with the rest to career away to a thumping win, unextended.
Mighty Conqueror (Zawari Razali) makes light work of his rivals in Race 5, picture Singapore Turf Club
A winning margin of five and a half lengths summed up his clear superiority on that night, a shellacking which might have cut deeper for his eight opponents had Zawari not stepped off the accelerator.
O’What A Feeling (John Powell) rattled home late to snatch second place from Mighty Conqueror’s $19 joint-favourite Terms Of Reference (Vlad Duric). The winning time was 1min 11.17secs for the 1200m journey on the Polytrack.
Assitant-trainer Gus Clutterbuck said the Synthetic Stable-owned galloper was the sort who displays his best when unrestrained.
“He’s the type of horse who likes to be left alone and he will just keep going,” said Walker’s right-hand man.
“He was beaten by a smart horse (Darc Bounty) last time, and he will have to keep stepping up.”
The win enabled Zawari to consolidate his second place on the apprentice jockeys’ log on eight winners, five behind reigning champion Wong Chin Chuen who himself rode a winner earlier for his master David Hill, Evertrust ($33), in the $35,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1400m.
“He’s a very strong horse. I had to hold him back down the backstraight,” said Zawari.
“I just followed him, let him stride along, and at the top of the straight, I knew he would be hard to beat. I gave him a couple of smacks just to remind him he still had a job to finish and he did it very well.”
With that fourth win from 11 outings, Mighty Conqueror has already amassed prizemoney that has exceeded the $160,000 mark for his connections.
