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Trainer Alwin Tan is still mum about the identity of War Affair’s new jockey when he resumes, simply because he has not made a decision yet, but one rider who has certainly not harmed his chances of getting the nod was Alan Munro.
The English jockey was not one of Tan’s regular picks in the past. Platoon recently gave the rare pairing a double, but otherwise, one has to go as far back as 21 August 2011 - when Munro was then a relative newcomer who had just commenced his Singapore stint - to find their last winning combo, Alpha Dynamic.
It was only Munro's fifth Kranji winner and the English Derby-winning rider soon went on to establish himself as a prolific rider of winners, adding another 188 to his tally. But stunningly, Tan and Munro only linked up for a second win more than three years later with Platoon on 12 December 2014.
But with Tan's previous go-to jockey and War Affair’s regular partner Danny Beasley not riding in Singapore anymore, the Singaporean handler has been testing a few new associations, including Munro. The pair were quickly off the mark last Friday with Platoon, and have now backed up with another success with Power Lion in Friday’s $100,000 Open Benchmark 83 race over 1400m.
Settling the big strapping son of Danroad in second spot after jumping from the inside alley, Munro timed his run to perfection. Race-leader Cheyenne Warrior (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) looked to have given the rest the slip from the 400m, but Munro had his mount ready to pounce shortly after straightening.
Cheyenne Warrior, normally a noted backmarker, soon came back to the field with Power Lion leading the charge to take over the lead at the 300m, but he himself soon came under pressure as well when Wonderful Prince (Manoel Nunes) started to cut him down from the 200m mark.
As the finishing line loomed up, the Desmond Koh-trained galloper gave the growing impression he could upstage the $15 favourite. In one last bid, Wonderful Prince lunged at the post, but Power Lion managed to get in by the barest of margins. Indian Jade (Zuriman Zulkifli) plugged on for third, another 2 ¾ lengths away.
The winning time was 1min 22.29secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
“It was close but we were a bit lucky. I discussed with Alan before the race and I told him to race forward as I was worried he could get checked from the inside gate,” said Tan, who finished runner-up to Laurie Laxon in the 2014 trainer’s premiership, but still came away with five awards including four for War Affair at the Singapore Racing Award gala dinner on Tuesday night.
“At the same time, I told him to go easy as he had to reserve him for the last bit. He rode him very well.
“Dan used to ride this horse, but Alan has proven to be a very good replacement. He's won on Platoon for me twice, including last Friday, so we’re having a bit of success together of late.
“People keep asking me at the gala dinner who will ride War Affair now that Dan is gone, but I told them it’s not that I’m keeping it a secret. It’s just I haven’t decided yet.
“A lot of jockeys have been calling me but I need to sit down with the owners (Warplan Racing Stable) first. Alan is a good rider and why not, he could be the one, but there are other good jockeys in the mix too. In due course, we will decide.”
So, no scoop yet on who will be the 2014 Horse of the Year’s new pilot. Munro for one was only too happy to ride winners for anyone, whether they would open the door to some plum ride or not.
“He’s a big powerful horse and we were just a bit worried the sprint would find him out,” said Munro of his fifth winner for the year.
“The strong pace was perfect for him. He’s definitely got a big scope here.”
With that fifth win from nine starts, Power Lion maintains his outstanding record having finished out of the placings only once. His stakes earnings have now climbed up to the $230,000 mark.