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Visiting jockey Daniel Moor combined with trainer David Kok and the Pacific Stable for their first hurrah together before snaring a quick double for good measure on Saturday.
A regular visitor to Kranji, the Australian hoop was booked on five rides at his one-day visit this time. Bar Greatham Boy, who ran sixth to Ace Of Diamonds (see later report) in the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) and Fighting Hero, Moor's three other runners were for the Pacific Stable and he made sure their first partnership was a fruitful one.
After the Tan Kah Soon-trained Pacific Sonic ran unplaced in the $30,000 Tiger Roar 2021 Stakes, a Class 5 race (1200m), Moor found his way back to the winning line at Kranji after Pacific Gold ($49) sprinted past favourite Filial Dragon to take out the $50,000 Conflight 2016 Stakes, a Class 4 race (1200m).
A similar tactic was in play 30 minutes later when Moor rode Pacific MV in the $70,000 Kiwi Karma 2013 Stakes. The Victoria-based jockey settled the four-year-old son of Headwater in midfield while pacesetter Illustrious (Manoel Nunes) led the field of 10.
Turning for home, Pacific Mv swung out for his final assault and gradually strode past Lord's Command (Yusoff Fadzli) and Pacific Hero (Koh Teck Huat), who were not making much ground on the leader.
Class dropper Illustrious kicked on strongly under Nunes' steering but Pacific MV ($21) had the last laugh in the last 50m. He pegged back the strapping grey by half a length to win while Dancing Light (Ryan Curatolo) finished another two lengths away in third.
The winning time for the Class 3 race over 1000m on the Polytrack was a slick 58.11secs.
Both winners were trained by Kok, who rarely teamed up with Moor since the latter's first visit to the Lion City in September 2017. Prior to Saturday, Moor's only two rides for Kok was on Unstoppable Train in August and December 2019, albeit he returned unplaced both times.
Though it remains to be seen if the double would kickstart a more frequent pairing between Moor, who has also been licensed to ride at Kranji from 1 May onwards till the end of the racing season, Kok and the Pacific Stable, the lightweight jockey was happy with the results.
"It's good to get a double today. It's my first time riding for the Pacific Stable too," said Moor, who last rode in Singapore on 23 July.
"(Ex-Kranji trainer) (Michael) Clements (who trained a lot for the Pacific Stable) is not here anymore but it's good to be able to stay on the nice horses.
"It's his (Pacific MV) first time in Class 3 but he had good weight relief (52.5kgs) and he looked like a progressive type that could end up in Class 3.
"Although he jumped in class today, he was strong with that weight and the good tempo also helped.
"He put in a long sustained run. Illustrious was always hard to run down but he (Pacific MV) showed great tenacity to find the line and win."
Kok shared Moor's sentiment and thought the light weight, together with two other factors, helped Pacific MV come out tops at his first Class 3 test.
"I was very confident even though he's up in class, he had the light weight to help him," said the Singaporean trainer, who bagged a treble after Pacific Angel ($24) also won the $30,000 January 2023 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 1 race (1000m).
"The field was not strong and he pulled up well after his last run too."
With three wins and four placings in 12 starts, Pacific MV has taken his earnings to over $120,000 for Pacific Stable, who took home a big haul of five wins at the 10-race meeting. Their two other winners were debutant Pacific Vampire ($7) and Pacific Charm ($33), both trained by Jason Ong.
