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Trainer Leslie Khoo turned in a most laudable training feat on Sunday when he produced promising galloper Easy Man first-up from a 14-month injury-induced spell to record a thumping win in the $35,000 Kranji Stakes D Division 1 race over 1100m on Polytrack.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
Widely labelled as something out of the box after his narrow debut second to Pitstop in the Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m) for two-year-olds in May 2012, followed by an impressive win in Restricted Maiden company with jockey Joao Moreira next time out, the Ishiguru four-year-old, however, saw his hopes of making further headway snuffed out by an untimely barrier trial injury to his near-fore splint bone.
But thanks to the Singapore Turf Club’s veterinary team, Easy Man was operated on successfully (metal plate screwed onto the bone) and has since been patiently brought back to race-fitness by the Khoo team.
From his two wins scored at his three barrier trials, with the last one recorded with blinkers on as per Moreira’s post-win suggestion more than a year ago, it was clear Easy Man was back on track, but a question mark remained how a horse with a steel plate in his leg, would perform at his comeback race after more than a year.
Any doubts were swiftly answered the moment Moreira punched him out of the pens to go and lead his rivals a merry dance.
Once he shook off the pesky presence of Afrojack (Troy See) and Power Angel (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) upon straightening, Easy Man ($13) immediately put a big space between him and the chasing pack. Tagged as his only danger in the otherwise moderate field, $11 favourite Faithfully (Danny Beasley) did try to muster a challenge, but though he did pare down the margin, he had to settle for second place more than three lengths away.
His My Idol (Leong Yoon Fei) ran third another two lengths away. The winning time was 1min 5.49secs.
Showing both delight and relief at the winner’s enclosure, Khoo, however, said that Easy Man would go for a short break.
“I could have gone for a Class 4 race, but in the end chose this easier Kranji Stakes D race just to give him an easy comeback to get his confidence back,” said the Singaporean conditioner.
“With the injury and operation he had, I have to be super careful with him. He’s been working well and I was expecting him to win today, but probably not as easily as this as the favourite (Faithfully) had a better timing than him over this trip.
“He was really quick out of the gates, but before the race, I wasn’t sure if he could lead with the No 5 horse (Fat Boy) being a fast beginner and drawn on his inside.
“But once Joao was able to control the race from the front, I was confident he’d be hard to beat. He made it look easy today, and on that run, I think he can go up to 1400m.
“The vets actually told me such a splint bone fracture is normally 50/50, but they’ve fixed it and all credit must go to them.”
Part of the credit in Sunday’s scintillating run can also be shared with Moreira as he was the one who recommended the application of blinkers after his win last year.
“The blinkers sharpened him up. When I won on him 18 months ago, I had to keep pushing him to keep in contact with the lead,” said Moreira.
“Today, he was just able to show how much speed he has and landed in front easily. The instructions were actually not to lead as we thought there was another horse with a little bit more pace, but he jumped so well that I just let him go to the front by himself.
“At the top of the straight, he just ran away from them to score a very easy win. He’s much better than this class, but it was the perfect race for his comeback.”
Raced by the Ninetyseven Stable, Easy Man has now recorded two wins and one second from three starts for stakes earnings close to $120,000.