3 minute read
Classy sprinter-miler Majestic Moments turned back the clock with an impressive return to winning ways after more than two years on Sunday - partly thanks to a very determined jockey's wife.
At his fifth season in Singapore (first three came under the care of ex-Kranji trainer Patrick Shaw for whom he scored all his previous seven wins before his assistant Ricardo Le Grange took over), the rising seven-year-old by Darci Brahma has always been regarded as Group material, but had somehow not quite been able to live up to that tag.
The last of his wins came in a Kranji Stakes A race over the mile on April 24, 2016. It’s been a topsy-turvy path since, but a patient Le Grange knew that those intrinsic qualities can’t just get vaporised overnight, and it would be a matter of time before they would resurface.
They sure did in Sunday’s $125,000 CA Transportation & Warehousing P/L, a Kranji Stakes A race over 1400m, thanks to a great extent to first-time partner Michael Rodd’s silky hands.
Ridden in a rearward berth from the off, Majestic Moments ($45) was put to sleep by the top Australian rider, but blink once, and you would not have realised they had stealthily worked their way into a striking position into the home straight.
Once Rodd cut the ribbons, that old dash of his heyday was back in the house. Majestic Moments sprouted wings through the field for a timely reminder of what he can do when on song, defeating a surprisingly obstinate race-leader, roughie Dance In The Wind (Wong Chin Chuen) by half-a-length.
Nova Strike (Olivier Placais) reproduced his gallant third-placed effort to Hong Kong’s Southern Legend in the Invitational Group 1 Kranji Mile with a similar finish another length away. The winning time was 1min 22.47secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
Le Grange was clearly overwhelmed with emotion after one of the stable favourites has finally shown a second lease of life.
“I have to first and foremost thank (assistant-trainer) Jacci (de Tert) who spends so much time doing physiotherapy massage on this horse to keep him sound,” said the South African handler.
“The other person I have to thank is his syce. He’s kept him in mint condition throughout the four years he has been with him - there is no need to clip up his coat.
“And of course his two owners, two quality genuine people who deserve every success coming their way – Mark and Emily Yong (Tmen Stable). I’m truly grateful for their support all these years.”
Le Grange also had nothing but words of praise for a rider he seldom books, but who, funnily, would probably have put his bum either on another horse in the race or on the jockeys’ room bench if not for that clicheed person behind every successful man – his wife.
“I was paddle-boarding in Vietnam when Cara asked me if I had asked for the ride on Majestic Moments. She knows I like this horse and I always wanted to ride him,” said Rodd.
“I told her I haven’t and he would probably be ridden by Nooresh (Juglall) or Barend (Vorster), anyway.
“I thought that was that, but she didn’t stop there. She later came out and yelled at me that I got the ride! Yup, she got the ride on Majestic Moments all organised for me - a big thank you to Cara!”
Though Rodd has often beaten Majestic Moments with regular nemeses like Debt Collector and Well Done, the assiduous form student was always fully aware of that sleeping giant who, to him, could wake up given the right circumstances.
“He is truly a horse that suits me. You have to ride him quiet and not bustle him around early and he will give you his best,” said Rodd.
“At the start, I went back and rode him for luck. I had a lot of fortune between the 800m and 600m when I was able to sneak up behind.
“Debt Collector beat him a few times, but I know he’s a very good horse. He was unlucky in the Kranji Mile with the bad barrier or he should have run a better race.”
Majestic Moments, whose last run came in the Kranji Mile on May 26 when well beaten, may have taken an awfully long time to find the line, but it was well worth the wait, with that eighth win having now swollen his bank account close to the $1.2 million mark for the Tmen Stable.