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The ever consistent Hot Gold continued his good run of form at Singapore on Sunday when saluting as the well supported favourite.
A whip is an important riding aid in horse-racing, albeit sometimes controversial when abused, but jockey Ivaldo Santana proved on Sunday that the persuader is not always all that indispensable after he succeeded in driving consistent galloper Hot Gold home even after he accidentally lost it at a crucial stage in Sunday’s $125,000 Recast 2004 Stakes, a Kranji Stakes A race over 1400m.
The Brazilian rider had the Irish-bred five-year-old by Iffraaj humming along in fourth spot from the start and all poised to let rip inside the last 300m, but trouble struck when he accidentally dropped his whip at the 300m after giving only two lashes.
Resorting to good old hands and heels, along with his vocal cords, Santana made sure the $22 favourite was still given every conceivable chance and every spurring aid possible to still land the money.
All his hard work looked like it would have been all in vain, though, when Trudeau (Manoel Nunes) and Flax (Alan Munro) loomed up with big bounds at the 200m, but Hot Gold did not yield an inch of ground to stick his head in front right on the line. Trudeau had to settle for second place while the resuming Flax was third another three parts of a length away. The winning time was 1min 22.36secs for the 1400m journey on the Short Course.
“I gave two smacks and then I lost my whip around the 300m mark, but I still used my hand and it worked,” said Santana who was at a riding double after scoring earlier with Easy Money for trainer Tan Hor Khoon.
“The pace was fast and I had cover. The horse was always travelling relaxed and I just waited for the home straight.
“The horse did the rest in the end.”
The winning trainer may beg to differ as horses do not always win on just raw ability, but a solid barrier trial last Tuesday had Cliff Brown feeling pretty bullish about the Gold Stable ward’s chances even if he was first-up from a short spell.
“He trialled very well the other day when he ran second to Gold Dancer (another horse he trains for the Gold Stable). I am very pleased with his win today,” said the Australian handler.
“He was in a tough race where all the runners are pretty genuine, but he was well in at the weights, and that made the difference.
“He’s grown up a lot and is a lot more mature in his head now. He was quite a nut case in the past and needed a lot of hard work.
“It’s been a great team effort from Tim (Fitzsimmons) and Chris (Bock) and the good ride from Santana, especially after he lost his whip, also played a big part.”
Hot Gold has now brought his record to six wins and seven placings from 24 starts for prizemoney totalling past the $400,000 mark for his connections.