Malaysian apprentice jockey Krisna Kumar Thangamani recorded his first win at Kranji thanks to a hard-ridden performance aboard outsider Mighty Emperor on Sunday.

Newly indentured to trainer Ricardo Le Grange after coming down from Richard Lines in Kuala Lumpur, the 24-year-old Penangite was all guts and determination coupled with great poise and strength aboard the Kahal six-year-old in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1700m.

Already up against the outermost alley in the 12-horse field, Krisna elected to roll forward and sit outside the well-backed Kolombia (Michael Rodd) from the start.



Krisna Thangamani en route to his first win in Singapore aboard Mighty Emperor, picture Singapore Turf Club

Mighty Emperor ($152), who last scored in almost carbon-copy fashion three starts back with Vlad Duric up, was punching the breeze, but seemingly on the bit and not really overspending his energy.

Turning for home, Krisna drew first blood as he took his mount to the front outright. Le Grange must have been cheering his new apprentice on from up in the stands, but probably switched to another name, but cheering all the same, when the better-fancied Saraab (Oscar Chavez, $25) swept past with what looked like a one-way ticket to the line.

That was underestimating Krisna and Mighty Emperor. Keeping his head down and extracting the best out of his mount, Krisna somehow turned a sure-lose scenario into a victorious second wind.

Slowly but surely, Mighty Emperor rose from the ashes to wrest the lead back from Saraab, edging past for a very combative three-quarter-length victory. Ground Control (Alan Munro) finished third another neck away. The winning time was 1min 45.99secs for the 1700m on the Polytrack.

Krisna, who won 23 races up north in two seasons, was delighted with the first one to have come at his “dream place” at Kranji.

“I’ve always wanted to ride in Singapore. Today I got my first winner here and I’m very happy,” he said.

“I would like to thank my boss, Mr Ricardo and also Mr Richard Lines, my ex-boss.

“This horse is very nice. Mr Ricardo said I had to go forward as he is a bit lazy.

“He told me he must jump properly and today he did. I found myself in a good position outside the leader.

“But when Oscar’s horse went past him, he felt flat and I thought we were gone. It’s only when I got working hard on him that he came back again.”

Le Grange was happy with both horse and jockey, but probably more for the latter this time around.

“This kid ticks all the boxes,” said the South African handler, who himself just came under the wings of Patrick Shaw not too long ago.

“He is a hard worker, he listens and he does his homework, he’s very dedicated. He has had only four rides and he’s already got his first win. I think he’s a kid with a bright future here.

“As for the horse, it was his first time up in Class 3. He’s a horse on the upgrade.

“I took the blinkers off and put side winkers on for a change. He dug down deep like those good South African horses who always come to the fore.”

Mighty Emperor has now taken his handy record to seven wins and six placings from 33 outings for prizemoney closing in on the $280,000 mark for the Avengers Stable.