Trainer Desmond Koh continued his hot winning streak with newcomer Columbus joining in to add one more win to his tally on Sunday.

After sitting on 16th spot going into this weekend’s meetings, the Singaporean handler went on to climb three spots – past John O’Hara, Bruce Marsh and Leslie Khoo – to now sit in 13th spot on 19 winners, thanks to one win from Mr Luck on Friday night followed by a training double from Sun Empire and Columbus two days later.

Koh, who prior to the prolific haul, had only two winners (Rajawali and Mastermind) for the months of April and June, was certainly well inspired to pass up a Thai holiday (see Friday’s report about Mr Luck) as three winners were waiting for him at home, edging him closer to his 11th finish from last year (35 winners).



Saifudin Ismail steers Columbus to a smart winning debut on Sunday, picture Singapore Turf Club

“In racing, you hit a dry spot, but the opportunities will come back, like this week,” said the US-trained horseman.

“Very pleased with the results this weekend. CC (Wong Chin Chuen) gave me two winners, Mr Luck and Sun Empire in the first race today.

“And now a newcomer (Columbus) with the very experienced Saifudin (Ismail) pulling off a perfect ride.”

Koh’s other source of satisfaction from Columbus’ win was the sire who is none other than the former French stayer Ruwi, a failure for him as a racehorse at Kranji, but who has somehow redeemed himself as a decent stallion for his hobby breeder Teng Kian Beng in Australia.

“It’s another Ruwi winning for me! Rajawali was a recent winner, and before that, Above The Horizon and Above The Skyline (now Wijaya) also won,” said Koh.

“I named this one Columbus myself. He is still green and on his breeding, he wants to go over longer.

“He was drawn wide today (12) but luckily, he got the right trip every step of the way.

“As he can stay all day, I will slowly increase the distance for him.”