Leading jockey Vlad Duric was tickled pink he finally rode his first winner for trainer Shane ‘Stretch’ Baertschiger on Friday night.

Strangely, the two Australians are leading protagonists in their respective logs at Kranji, but they don’t team up all that often, and certainly had no victory celebration to share despite having Kranji as a common battleground for so many years.

Even when Shane was assistant trainer to his father Don during the time Duric rode with success at his first three Singapore seasons between 2009 and 2011, not a single winning combination was sealed between the two parties.



Faaltless (Vlad Duric) pulls away to an all-the-way win in the Kranji Stakes A race, picture Singapore Turf Club

Duric rode a grand total of 214 winners during that time and uncannily, not a single one came for the now-retired Australian veteran trainer, who to be fair tends to use mainly his stable jockey John Powell or Matthew Kellady.

The Victorian jockey made his comeback last year, booting home 66 winners, and those repelling poles between Baertschiger son and Duric seem to have been perpetuated - until Faaltless finally brought an end to that oddity at Duric’s 348th winner at Kranji in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1100m.

Perhaps the singular fact that does not add up the most about the two men taking a wide berth from each other at the winner’s circle was that they are actually good friends off the track.

“I’m so rapt for Shane and Scotty Bailey his assistant-trainer as we’re all good mates,” said Duric.

“A few times John (Powell) could not ride a horse, but I could not get on for some reason, and their horses bloody won!

“That’s been the story between us. He did offer me a few rides but I jumped off and I’m glad I didn’t let this one go tonight.

“Faatless has got class. He had a soft lead and did it easy from the front.

“Shane and the boys had this horse spot-on and he was beautifully prepared for this race.”

Punted down to $17 favouritism, Faaltless indeed took the race by the scruff of the neck at barrier rise when he shot to the lead from marble one. Comeback kid Rafaello (Nooresh Juglall) nipped at his heels from the start, but his lack of racing fitness probably told when he had to try and reel in a much fitter Faaltless down the entire length of the home straight.

The Ricardo Le Grange-trained sprinter did, however, give a fleeting impression he could throw a late spanner in the works just like the fast-finishing Super Winner (Michael Rodd), but Faaltless did not buckle under pressure to hold a comfortable 1 ½-length margin over Super Winner with Rafaello third another neck away. The winning time was 1min 9.27secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.

Baertschiger, who has been running up and down saddling his big team of horses in the last three races of the night, remembered the times when Duric became the nearly-man for them.

“He was supposed to ride two horses for me but he couldn’t for either and they both won!” said the Australian trainer.

“Once he couldn’t make the weight on raceday and on the other one, I think he was sick and was stood down.

“One of them was Lincoln Road when he won with Matty (Kellady) as replacement (May 1) and the other one Dinghu Mountain at his first win (May 19).

“It’s all good, he’s got a winner for us tonight. The 1400m was too far for Faaltless at his last run and he had everything in his favour tonight – barrier No 1, a soft lead, the horse did the rest.”

A seven-year-old by Faltaat, Faaltless, a two-time Group 3 Garden City Trophy winner – last one coming with rising Hong Kong apprentice jockey Matthew Poon two starts back on August 6 – was ringing up his eighth win from 25 starts for stakes earnings that have now tipped over the $610,000 mark for the MA Racing Stable.