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In-form jockey Michael Rodd combined with trainer Laurie Laxon on Friday night for a winning double aboard Ron and Huka Falls, the very same horse who gave him his maiden win in Singapore back in January.
The hulking chestnut, whom Rodd labelled as an “old marvel” after he dismounted, was indeed the first victorious notch on the Australian jockey’s outstanding haul since he began his Singapore adventure on New Year’s Day, and has now brought it up to win No 42.
The sentimentalism attached to Friday’s victory was, however, a little marred by some helter-skelter in the early stages of the $125,000 Open Handicap race over 1000m.
Noted frontrunner Cash Advance (Barend Vorster) flew the lids from his outside gate to hit the front without much fuss, but for some reason, slammed on the brakes the moment he came across to secure a spot along the fence. The sudden drop of pace caught Huka Falls – who was right in his slipstream - off guard as he looked to have got onto the heels of Cash Advance in the backwash.
Feeling something had gone amiss with his mount, Vorster pulled Cash Advance out of the race at the 900m mark while the race continued upfront with Huka Falls and Hypernova (Zuriman Zulkifli) coming off their striking positions to attack the weakening leader Southern Boss (Joseph See) shortly after straightening.
Hypernova got the upperhand first but his time at the top did not last very long. Well ridden by Rodd, Huka Falls, who was sent out as the $15 favourite, gradually gained the ascendancy to go and post a three-quarter length win over Hypernova with Golden Sand Steed (Shafiq Rizuan) closing in late for third another head away. The winning time was 58.74 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
Rodd did not fail to pay tribute to Huka Falls’ qualities and reliability, especially on the alternative track.
“He is an old marvel, isn’t he? He’s been great to me as he gave me my first win here,” said Rodd.
“He’s always in the top three on Polytrack but on grass, his form is not as good.
“You throw him into a $125,000 race and he just keeps ticking them off. He wins at least a couple of such races a year, which is great.
“The race didn’t pan out the way I thought it would when Barend Vorster’s horse crossed quickly. After he cleared me, for no reason, he seemed to slow down and I think we ran up on his heels.
“Once we came around, he rolled on nicely and he showed a fantastic turn of foot. But he did wander out a little when he went past Bruce Marsh’s horse (Hypernova) and wanted to turn off the engine.
“But in the end, he kept his mind on the job and he was great tonight.”
Laxon was in a joking mood as he led in Huka Falls, a five-year-old by Align, to his 14th career win and more than $925,000 in prizemoney for the Silver Fern Racing and Brent Gillovic partnership.
“I bought him as a trial winner through my New Zealand agent Phil Cataldo,” said the nine-time Singapore champion trainer.
“His owner Brent Gillovic kept a share in him and he’s since been a very good horse to me. That is his 14th win already.”
And in one of his trademark quips, Laxon added:
“He’s probably not quite up to the top class, but I am!”
In the aftermath of the race, though the worst was feared for Cash Advance, it was actually reported in the Stewards’ report that he returned with severe lacerations on both hind legs. Whether he will recover from such an injury and return to racing now remains to be seen.