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A switch to quieter tactics for Polytrack specialist Invincible Ryker paid handsome dividends in the $70,000 The British Club Sprint 2019, a Class 3 race over 1000m on Sunday.
Trainer Daniel Meagher admitted he may have erred when he asked jockey Benny Woodworth to ride the Irish-bred entire handy at his last outing in another Class 3 race over 1200m on January 6.
Invincible Ryker tracked stablemate Elise throughout but was already on empty when they turned up for the judge, eventually finishing eighth to the fast-finishing Time Lord.
Dropped at the rear this time around, Invincible Ryker was kept out of the rush hour, and produced to devastating effect inside the last 300m.
Odds-on favourite ($8) Fulife King (Glen Boss) was all poised to land safely for his legion of backers at the 200m when he hit the front, but Invincible Ryker came charging home to deal a late blow.
The winning margin was half-a-length with Awesome (Barend Vorster) third another neck away. At his second Kranji win from five runs, Invincible Ryker ($61) was timed at 59.73 seconds in the 1000m speed scamper.
At his previous Irish racing career when prepared by the Team Cheval/Yu Long Stable’s trainer Mick Halford, the son of Invincible Spirit recorded all his three wins over 1400m at Dundalk Stadium’s Polytrack.
There is no such distance on the all-weather at Kranji, but Meagher is already eyeing off tests over longer trips at his next assignments.
“It’s a good result for Team Cheval and Yu Long Stable,” said the Australian trainer who was cementing his early lead in this year’s trainer’s championship with his sixth winner.
“I told Benny (Woodworth) to ride him up close with the pace at his last start. In hindsight, it was a trainer’s error.
“Today, I told Marc to settle him where he was happy. He’s a colt and it’s a good team effort as the boys have done a good job at the barriers with this horse.
“We’ve kept the work up to him even after we backed ourselves off. I think he wants further.”
Meagher would like to see the same stamina in his yard now that they were the early lamplighters on six winners, two clear of a bunched-up trio made up of Mark Walker, Cliff Brown and Hideyuki Takaoka all on four winners.
“It’ll be a good test for us. We’ll just have to work hard to keep it going,” he said.
Lerner, who was at his first Kranji riding double after he saluted earlier aboard Across The Sea (see other report), said he only had to execute Meagher’s simple plan, and the five-year-old entire finished it off.
“Happy days,” he said as he soaked in the achievement of his first double in Singapore.
“Dan told me to settle him where he was comfortable, don’t rush him. We had a good position behind the leaders and he was too good when he took the bridle in the home straight.
“Dan thinks he will be better over 1200m-1400m as long as he settles and relaxes.”
Invincible Ryker has now taken his local record to two wins from five starts for stakes earnings around the $85,000 mark for the Team Cheval/Yu Long Stable.