Kranji Gold came through a thrilling five-way finish to shed his maiden status by the barest of margins on Sunday.

The Hussonet three-year-old finished in the money five times from his previous eight runs, even coming close a couple of times.

That door was finally knocked down in the $85,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1600m, but not without a gut-busting effort under in-form jockey Michael Rodd, even after the loss of a precious riding aid at a crucial time.

Kranji Gold (Michael Rodd, black blinkers) gets up by a nose in a blanket finish on Sunday, picture Singapore Turf Club

Tracking favourite Theagenesofthasos (Vlad Duric) throughout, Kranji Gold took it up the straight but could not quite draw clear at the 200m. Rodd pulled the stick through to the other hand, but that’s when he accidentally dropped it.

Theagenesofthasos was still plugging away on his inside under Duric’s hard riding, but Rodd, resorting to hands-and-heels riding, was able to find that extra kick in Kranji Gold ($37), who lunged at the line to just nose Theagenesofthasos out.

Third place another short head away went to Bebop (Olivier Placais) who came storming home with a late run on the outside. Foresto (Glen Boss), who “won” the void race (due to a false start) a few weeks ago, looked half a chance when he swept past the weakening leader Sacred Magic (Zuriman Zulkifli) at the top of the straight, but his maiden status will remain as such after he peaked on his run to finish fourth another head away.

Lim’s Rhythm (Ryan Curatolo) also got into the mix but he had to settle for fifth place another head away. The winning time was 1min 36.34secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.

“He was wavering, and when I pulled my whip through, I dropped it. It would have been my fault if he had lost, but he made it right on the line,” said Rodd who was at the double after opening proceedings with Prince Alexander ($21), which makes it five wins for the Australian rider for the weekend following his three-from-three on Friday night.

“All credit to Cliff for having found a race for this bloke. I knew I had very good rides this week, probably the best since I’ve been here.

“They were drawn in well and I was quite confident I would win a few.”

Brown was his usual self-deprecating self at the post-race interview, blaming himself for not having taken more than just a cursory look at Kranji Gold’s pedigree.

“I took a look at his breeding and realised he wants a mile or further,” said the Australian conditioner who was at the double after Mo Almighty scored earlier.

“He’s been going on the wrong trips for 12 months. It didn’t take me long to learn.”

Though Kranji Gold was getting off the mark, his five placings went a long way in pushing his total stakes past the $100,000 mark for the Gold Stable of the Yong family.

“It’s great for the Yong’s. They’re the best people and are long-suffering owners of mine,” said Brown.

“They are good to me and my family. They are just great people and great owners.”