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Joseph Azzopardi bowed out of Singapore racing on a winning note after he drove $91 longshot Buuraq to a narrow victory at Kranji on Sunday.
The young Perth rider was the only one among the 10 expatriates not to have applied for a Singapore Turf Club jockey's licence renewal for 2020. While there are still five meetings left in his first season in Singapore, Azzopardi has decided to cut short his stay with Sunday his farewell meeting.
As he weighed in from his 16th and final winner at a maiden season where the highlight was his first ever Group 1 silverware won in the Singapore Derby (1800m) aboard Sun Marshal in July, Azzopardi did not fail to express his gratitude for the opportunity.
"I didn't apply for another licence and as the Perth Carnival is starting soon, I didn't want to miss it, so that's why I'm leaving earlier," said Azzopardi who has three remaining rides for the day.
"I've had a great experience in Singapore, and it was great to ride my last winner for Michael Clements as he was the reason why I came up here in the first place.
"I'd also like to thank the Singapore Turf Club for giving me the opportunity to ride here.
"As for this winner, he was a bit green. When I pulled him out, he took a while to get going, but he did a good job in the end."
The three-year-old by Sweet Orange certainly did as odds-on favourite Rise Of Empire (Vlad Duric) must have had his legion of backers queuing up at the window when he extended his lead at the top of the straight.
But Buraaq, whose only previous run (ninth) came under the care of James Peters before his recent transfer to Clements, was never far behind, and finished a shade better to beat Rise Of Empire by a short head.
Fast And Fearless (Ben Thompson) ran third another 3 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.35secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
Clements admitted he was not very clued up about his new stable arrival, but was quite taken with that first run under his banner.
"I didn't know much about him but he worked well and did well at his trial," said Clements.
"He has a fair amount of speed, but it was good to see him finish off like he did today.
"There aren't many Sweet Orange's around, but on breeding, I think he can go further."
The New Zealand-based US stallion (x War Chant) is a relative new sire here, but he has already received good publicity through the Ricardo Le Grange-trained Field Marshal who won three in a row before tasting his first defeat at his last start last Sunday.
A Stakes-winning juvenile over 1400m in Ireland, Sweet Orange, who is out of the Unbridled Song mare Good Vibes, also raced in Hong Kong where he captured the Listed Mercedes Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile, and also ran third to Japan's Rulership in the 2012 Group 1 HKJC Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup.