3 minute read

It was truly a remarkable effort given that the five-year-old son of Kermadec won the highlight race of the day with the proverbial leg in the air first-up after an arduous hit-and-run mission in the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin racecourse back in December.

But Lim's Kosciuszko was the best horse in the race and faithful followers sent him out as the odds-on elect ($8) in a field that included the last winner of the Merlion Trophy – Celavi in 2021 – and King Arthur, who had six Polytrack wins under his belt.

On jumping, Lim's Kosciuszko's jockey - Wong Chin Chuen - was happy to let Celavi (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) cross from the wide gate no. 12 and lead but with Illustrious (Fadzli Yusoff) also crossing to race on the pace, Wong ensured his mount had clean air as he raced handy with Sacred Gift (Benny Woodworth) applying pressure on his outside.

On turning for home, Lim's Kosciuszko looked to be cruising under Wong after he slide up to Celavi and Illustrious. With a tap on his flank at the 300m, the Australian gelding quickly put two lengths on his rivals.

The race looked all over bar the shouting but Wong was kept busy with King Arthur (Manoel Nunes) running home strongly at the 200m and Rocket Star (Marc Lerner) also running on.

But Lim's Kosciuszko was more than honest and the eventual two-and-a-half length margin belied the dominance of the victory, although King Arthur showed he was back to his best to stay on for second with Rocket Star a neck away in third.

Winning trainer Daniel Meagher was quick to praise both jockey and staff but was in awe of the "little horse".

 "He's done a good job, Jimmy (Wong Chin Chuen)," said Meagher to racing presenter Pat Comerford after the race.

"I got to thank all the staff. Razif (Razif Rahman) who rides him every day and (Samsuri) Saadon who looks after him. Everybody in general.

"It was a tough Hong Kong trip. I felt pretty disappointed, but anyway, we got over that.

"We brought him back and it's been a little bit of a troublesome run. He's done a great job and good horses can do it."

When asked about his concerns leading into Lim's Kosciuszko first start on the Polytrack, Meagher was honest but knew exactly where the now three-time Group winner was headed next.

"He's a frontrunning horse so he was going to be out of the kickback. It's always a concern if you've never run on it (the Polytrack) before and you never know what this track is going to pop up sometimes," he explained.

"I'm going to get him ready for the (Group 1) Raffles (Cup). I'm not going to run him until then. I will give him a couple of trials and straight into that.

"Then (it would be) his main target – the only race I want to win with him this year – is the (Group 1) Kranji Mile (1600m)."

The Raffles Cup will be run twice this year, in which the first running of the 1600m feature race will be held on March 25. The Kranji Mile will be run on May 20.

Wong – who also steered Lim's Kosciuszko to his win in the 2022 Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) – thought that there was still plenty of upsides to the Lim's Stable star.

"Firstly, thanks to the winning connections," said the two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey.

"No doubt he's (Lim's Kosciuszko) like a machine. He's a good horse and proven (himself). I'm happy to get him back to the winner's circle and to give him back his confidence.

"He's a funny horse. He's got a lot of gate speed and can be raced on the pace. Now he's more mature – and the trainer has done a very, very good job to get the horse to settle – so when we want to go further, he can then be ridden more quiet at the start and he can still produce that strong finish."

Lim's Kosciuszko  was Wong's 12th winner in the 2023 season and the classy hoop was very happy.

"One hundred percent!" he exclaimed.

"Thank you very much to the trainers for putting me on nice horses. I'm delighted to be going good and I will (continue to) try my best."

The winning time was 1 min 10.32secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack and Lim's Kosciuszko 12th win in 15 starts took his prizemoney to a shade over $850,000 for connections.

Wong took over the leader's spot on the jockeys' log after he took out the Merlion Trophy, but four-time Singapore champion jockey Nunes hit back atop the Jason Ong-trained King Zoustar ($25) in the $50,000 Mexican Rose 2010 Stakes, a Class 4 Division 1 race (1200m) in the Lucky Last.

The two jockeys are now tied on 12 winners, with Wong back in second place on a countback for seconds.