3 minute read
Long regarded as a frontrunner to give Singaporean trainer Young Keah Yong his first career win, Crown Gift did come close twice, but it was his own mission to crack it for his first win that turned out to be the biggest challenge.
Young, who began training in August, did take a while to open his account, finally finding the line with Amistad at his 65th attempt on January 14. Four more winners have since come his way, but Crown Gift was still not among them.
The Phenomenons three-year-old has had three more shots at glory, and still proved to be a model of consistency with a fifth, second and third, but that maiden win was still hard to catch - until the $85,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200m came up on Friday night.
Taking full advantage of his barrier No 1, Crown Gift ($31) stayed in touch with leader and $12 favourite Good Catch (Nooresh Juglall) throughout the race before sneaking up on his inside to grind out a well-deserved win.
The winning margin was 1 ½ lengths with Auspicious Day (Vlad Duric) third another 2 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 12.91secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack.
“It’s been frustrating with this horse. He always gets beaten by a better horse,” said Young, who also fully owns the horse.
“He is a light-framed horse and we have to be careful with him, but we’ve managed to keep him in good shape and he’s done a good job tonight.
“I also own him. It’s certainly meaningful to have my own silks winning for the first time tonight.”
Woodworth shared Young’s relief at the winner’s circle, and even thought being on the rails could work against them.
“This horse has run second and third a few times, but he was in a small field tonight and he finally won,” said the Malaysian jockey.
“He tends to run about and it can be quite challenging. Tonight, he was on the inside and I actually thought Juglall would go faster so I could come around him to tackle him early.
“He had to come up on the inside, but he did a good job to get past Juglall’s horse. It was a very nice win.”
Thanks to his five placings, Crown Gift has through that maiden win topped up his total earnings to just a tick off the $100,000 mark.