3 minute read

Reigning Horse of the Year Lim’s Kosciuszko dominated again at his back-to-back wins in the $300,000 Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) on Sunday.

The script went to plan after the six-year-old son of Kermadec won the jewel and the third Leg of the STC Super Sprint series in a relative canter.

That win was also a consecutive victory for jockey Wong Chin Chuen, who was his winning partner last year, and a three-in-row for trainer Daniel Meagher, who won his first Lion City Cup with Lim's Lightning in 2021.

After the $7 favourite jumped as expected, Wong was happy to watch the race unfold in front of Lim's Kosciuszko  as Fame Star (Bernardo Pinheiro) and The August (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) made the running early.

General Command (Bruno Queiroz) also raced handy, giving Wong a perfect sit on Lim's Kosciuszko within striking distance on the bend with cover, while Super Salute (Manoel Nunes) and $24 second favourite, Golden Monkey (Hugh Bowman), followed in close attendance in fifth and sixth respectively.

Turning for home, all eyes were on Lim's Kosciuszko. Although Wong sat sitting as quiet as a church mouse at the 300m, another Group 1 win for the pair looked a fait accompli.

Wong pushed the proverbial button at the 250m to put the race beyond doubt. However, Golden Monkey loomed as a serious danger with a furlong to go.

Wong got busy on Lim's Kosciuszko in the final 100m to see off that admirable challenge from the newly-crowned Singapore Derby winner and held him safely at bay by a length on the line.

Mr Malek (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) ran on well to maintain his excellent sprinting form to finish another one-and-a-quarter lengths back in third, with Kharisma (Marc Lerner) also doing his best work late to grab fourth another half-a-length away.

The winning time was 1 min 8.94secs for the 1200m on the Short Course and Lim's Kosciuszko's 15th win in 18 starts took his prizemoney to over $1.7million for the Lim's Stable.

Meagher had tears of joy after the stable star snagged his fifth Group 1 win, but he did reminded fans that the little champion had bigger fish to fry in the later part of the season.

"I'm relieved," said the young Australian conditioner to racing presenter Raymond Yong after the race.

"He's a very good horse and he has done an amazing job for myself, (owner) Mr Lim (Sia Mong) and the whole stable.

"He wins 1200m; he wins 1800m. It's just a great job by the team once again. He's a fantastic horse.

"He'll go to the (Group 1) Raffles Cup (1600m) and then he will go to the (Group 1) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m). All going well and you never know, he might go for the (Group 1) (Singapore) Gold Cup (2000m)."

The Raffles Cup, QEII Cup and the Singapore Gold Cup makes up the three legs of the Singapore Triple Crown series and they will be held on September 23, October 14 and November 11 respectively.

After the dust had settled, Meagher elaborated on how heavy the weight on his shoulders were and how that affected him and his love ones, given the high expectations of Lim's Kosciuszko from many people.

"People tell me all week – in good faith – that Lim's Kosciuszko can't lose," said Meagher who, with wife Sabrina, welcomed daughter Vienna Grace into the family last month.

"But they don't know if he's eating or has a temperature, or if he's just moody back at the stable and not at his best.

"So, the pressure was on for us to tick all the boxes and it's not that easy. In fact, it's tough on everyone as the expectation was that he (Lim's Kosciuszko) just wins.

"I'm under pressure, so Sabrina keeps everyone away from me at home during race week. Not ideal but it works and it's a massive relief when it's over."

Meagher was also keen to give ex-kranji jockey Danny Beasley – who won the 2022 Singapore Derby on Lim's Kosciusko - a shout out.

"Danny was such a big part of this horse," he continued.

"Not only was he a great help with the horses and the stable, but life in general. It was Danny who told me to watch Jimmy (Wong Chin Chuen) a few years back, so after Danny went home (to Australia), Jimmy had been faultless."

Wong said the pressure was on the trainer and he was only happy to be on the best horse in Singapore.

"I'd prefer to be on Lim's Kosciuszko than on a 100-1 shot," quipped Wong.

"Good horses make good jockeys and this horse just knows what to do.

"I think the pressure was on Daniel before the race and I'm just happy to be riding the best horse in Group 1 races."

When asked about the pair taking a sit on Sunday, Wong explained that was always the plan given the way the race was expected to play out.

"Today, the race definitely showed a lot of speed on paper," he said.

"But I still rode my horse to show good speed early. I just rode him as usual and put him where he was happy.

"The (early) race tempo was going very good and we just settled behind the speed. Coming into the straight, he was just too good.

"He's a very matured horse now and can do what we want. We can put him on the speed or put him to sleep, which is good. I don't think it will be a problem to step him up in distance too."