3 minute read
Visiting jockey Jake Bayliss scored aboard Pacific Victory right off the bat in the $30,000 Lim’s Lightning 2021 Stakes on Saturday.
Booked on all eight rides for the Pacific Stable at the Singapore Gold Cup meeting, the Australian hoop steered the Tan Kah Soon-trained maiden galloper to win the Class 5 Division 1 race (1400m) at his very first ride of the day.
After jumping from barrier six, the three-year-old son of Rubick took up the bunny's role for a brief moment in the backstraight, but jockey Bayliss was happy to let Red Maned (Vlad Duric) cross at the 1000m mark and sit on the fence behind the leader throughout.
Upon straightening, Bayliss took his mount out for the final sprint to the finishing line. Red Maned put up a brave fight but Pacific Victory ($25) inched closer with every stride, eventually scoring by one-and-three-quarter length.
Rook's Gambit (Jerlyn Seow) finished another three parts of a length away in third. The winning time was 1 min 22.73secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
Bayliss, who racked up 19 wins at his first stint in Singapore last year, was pleased with his first win for Tan and the Pacific Stable. The outfit flew him in primarily for the job aboard the David Kok-trained Pacific Emperor in the $1 million Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) nine races later.
"He (Pacific Victory ) had a rough chance of winning. Kah Soon was full of confidence at the parade ring," said the four-time Group 1-winning jockey who is currently based in Queensland.
"The main thing was to keep his momentum on the top. He has plenty of upsides.
"It's good to kick off with a winner and hopefully, there's more to come later."
Unfortunately, Bayliss could not salute again, but on the other hand, Tan enjoyed one more win. Pacific Sonic ($33), who was backing up after breaking the duck last Saturday, won the $30,000 Hongkong Great 2022 Stakes, a Class 5 race (1200m) in the opener under his last-start winning partner Iskandar Rosman.
The Tan-Bayliss combination bore fruit at their third partnership after Bayliss rode twice for Tan last year, but Tan also noted Pacific Victory, who ran unplaced in the Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe (1200m) on 23 July, was not quite the finished product yet.
"His (Pacific Victory) first run for (previous trainer) Jerome (Tan) in the Group 3 race was a very good run," said the Malaysian conditioner of his 11th winner this year.
"Bu he didn't get the run of the race two weeks ago when (jockey) Harry (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) rode him on the Polytrack (finished sixth to Written Towin in a Restricted Maiden race over 1100m on 28 October).
"This is his first time in an Open Class race and he's above average, ability-wise, but he hasn't really come off the bridle yet.
"Pacific Sonic's win last week wasn't much, but his fitness was there, so we backed him up. He got the run of the race (at his last start)."
With that first win in three starts, Pacific Victory has earned more than $16,000 in prizemoney for connections.
