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Lightweight galloper Sky Eye continued his purple patch of form with a stirring win in the $100,000 Class 1 race over 1100m on the Polytrack on Sunday and handed trainer Jason Lim his first win at Class 1 level.

As he was tasked to carry only 51.5kgs in the race, jockey Wong Chin Chuen made his intentions clear early by keeping Sky Eye  in touch with The August, who had pinged the gates for apprentice jockey Akmazani Mazuki and led easily by the 900m.

Jockey Manoel Nunes also made his intentions known early on the $9 race favourite and reigning Singapore champion Polytrack horse - Lucky Jinsha - who, after being slowly away, had to work hard to be on the pace, albeit three-wide with no cover.

On turning for home, the trio had put a gap on the rest of the field, although King Arthur (Yusoff Fadzli), who had 57kgs on his back, was stalking them in fourth.

The August kicked strongly at the top of the straight and with Lucky Jinsha battling to stay in touch after his tough run, it was only Sky Eye – who had good support late to jump as the second favourite at $21 – who was the danger to the bolting leader.

Under strong riding by Akmazani, The August  was not going down without a fight and while Sky Eye was slowly gaining momentum, Wong still had work to do on the six-year-old son of Per Incanto, with more than a length to make up at the furlong post.

Slowly but surely, Wong got Sky Eye on level terms with the leader at the 100m and was strong to the wire. He eventually won by a comfortable one-and-a-quarter lengths over The August while the brave King Arthur finished another two-and-a-half lengths away in third.

The winning time was 1 min 4.94secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack and Sky Eye's eighth win from 39 starts took his earnings to over $470,000 for owner Gam Gim Chuan.

Lim – who has a live winning chance with Super Salute in the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) next Sunday – was happy that he had ticked off the Class 1 box after four years of training in Singapore.

"My first Class 1 win," said Lim.

"He (Sky Eye) has won at Kranji Stakes A level (over 1200m on turf on January 21) but to win a Class 1 (race) is a big thrill. Now I can try to win a Group race!"

Before the race, Lim was wary of the favourite but after seeing how the race panned out early, the Singaporean conditioner was confident of winning not long after they jumped.

"Lucky Jinsha  was the horse to beat for sure," he explained.

"I told Jimmy (Wong's English name) to go forward because if we were behind him (Lucky Jinsha) early, we would struggle to get past him.

"So when Lucky Jinsha was slow away, had to work so hard and Jimmy had us on the pace, I thought we had a big chance of winning.

"When Lucky Jinsha started to fade, I knew we would run down the leader (The August) and I thought it was a terrific ride by Jimmy.

"He (Wong) followed my instructions to a tee and I'm happy for the horse – he deserved another win – and for the owners."

When questioned about where to go now for the versatile Sky Eye, Lim reckoned that the Polytrack might be his best option going forward, but will wait and see what the programme holds.

"He can win on both surfaces, but I may stick to the Polytrack at this level," he continued.

"We will have a look on what is on offer after giving him two to three weeks to recover – he always does well after races back at the stable. But I think for his owners, we can get some good prizemoney in races like this.

"You have to remember too that he was a $35,000 second-hand buy as a Class 4 horse. It really is a 'fairytale' that he can win so much prizemoney and a race like this.

"I'd like to mention the great job that my stable staff have done too. They are a big part of the success of Sky Eye and other horses in my stable."

Wong – who had earlier steered the Steven Burridge-trained Citizen ($14) to score in the $20,000 Open Maiden Division 1 race over 1400m – was full of praise for the honest Sky Eye.

"First time on him but he's such a simple horse to ride," said Wong.

"I watched his replays and knew that he would race on the pace but we got a bit lucky when Lucky Jinsha was slow away.

"Jason wanted me to make use of the light weight so when I was sitting outside the leader and we were travelling so comfortably, I was confident.

"He responded and hit the line strongly. Nice horse and I'm happy for Jason".