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After 99 days of no racing and lots of uncertainty, it’s Lim’s Shot who will enter the Singapore racing history books as the winner of the first post-Circuit Breaker race at the resumption of racing at Kranji on Saturday.
It may have come in a modest $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1200m, but the event was still welcomed with a mixed sense of relief and excitement all round, never mind if the raucous cheers and the applause from the crowds are still glaringly missing.
The sanitary protocols that prevailed before the sudden suspension on April 7, ie no public allowed in, social distancing and temperature taking for staff and participants are still in force, but with extra measures worked in, like the donning of masks, including jockeys.
The horses who spun around in the first couple of races also seemed happy they were finally away from the confines of their boxes, looking full of beans as they galloped full bore around the Polytrack, the only surface used for the 14-day programme.
Slow at the start, Lim's Shot (Marc Lerner), the $11 favourite of that first Kranji contest since Sweet Angeline signed off on April 3, mustered speed midrace as he sliced through the pack before springing into contention at the top of the straight.
Though Jerome Tan's ward started to drift out under pressure as he powered to the front at the 350m, he knuckled down to the task to fend off Performante's (Noh Senari) stinging challenge with aplomb.
A neck split the pair on the line with backmarker Gold Kingdom (Juan Paul van der Merwe) storming home late for third place another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 12.87secs.
A seven-year-old by Showcasing, Lim's Shot has had many seasons as he has trad trainers - five. He won his first four races when trained by Mark Walker (one) and Laurie Laxon (three), and was finally delivering the goods for Tan at his 19th run for the Singaporean handler after transferring from Daniel Meagher last year.
For good measure, it was the same Tan-Lerner combination who took out the next race, the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1100m, in a similar cliffhanger when The Brotherhood ($23) lunged late to touch off favourite and Shane Baertschiger's debutant Maceo (Matthew Kellady) by a short head.
The latter looked to have the race all stitched up when he kicked clear at the 300m, reproducing the devastating form he showed at his barrier trial, but The Brotherhood, a So You Think three-year-old who was at his first win in five starts, never threw in the towel and got the edge where it mattered.
Michael Clements' newcomer Jacksa (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) ran third another gap of six lengths away. The winning time was 1min 5.8secs for the 1100m on Polytrack.
"We needed that badly, the return to racing, and of the course the win, two of them, some more. Both the horses, the owners, Marc and myself needed that," said an ecstatic Tan.
"Lim's Shot has slipped down the grade and was in good form. The Brotherhood got lucky, we were worried the favourite would be in front a long way, but my horse got there in time by a short head.
"He worked well through the week, ran in two barrier trials and we were quite happy with him going into the race.
"It's a great start and I'd like to thank the Singapore Turf Club for bringing the races back and my owners for their patience, and of course, my workers for putting in so much effort during the break."