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Most favourites fell into a heap on Sunday with Refresh by far the biggest giant-slayer at $182 in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1600m.
Under pelting rain, David Kok’s four-year-old by Rock ‘N’ Pop came from off the pace, sliced through the field at the 400m paired up with Silent Prince before poking his head in front right on the line.
With the poor visibility prevailing, wipers and a defogger would have come in handy to work out the way the race was unfolding in the first six furlongs, but once they swung for home, the picture became much clearer.
The well-backed Star Jack (Olivier Placais) was probably the easiest to spot thanks to his big bright yellow hood, but the Jungle Pocket four-year-old’s wheels were spinning in the rain-soaked track as he failed to gain further traction.
Roughie Atlantic Fox (Craig Grylls) briefly slid up on the rails as a winning chance, but was soon slogging away, too. Key Success (Wong Chin Chuen) and favourite Yaya Papaya (Nooresh Juglall) were showing a better proclivity for the sticky underfoot conditions, but the real movers to emerge at the business end – and out of the pea soup – were Refresh (Benny Woodworth) and his gallant runner-up Silent Prince (Barend Vorster, $79).
Key Success stuck on for a creditable third another two and a half lengths away in advance of Yaya Papaya by an identical margin. The winning time was 1min 37.32secs for the mile on the Long Course.
With four wins on the board from 14 starts, Refresh has been a smart customer for Kok, who also happens to own him, but the Singaporean handler was not getting too ahead of himself.
“I thought I would be picking up some prizemoney at best today. He was up in class and I thought he would find it tougher this time,” he said.
“Plus, it was raining. I didn’t know how he would handle the conditions.
“He’s really improved, though. The sire has won on wet tracks in New Zealand, and I think he should be able to go over more ground.”
Woodworth said he was also wary of the climatic and track conditions going into the race, but Refresh revelled in them, much to his pleasant surprise.
“This horse was a surprise to all of us,” said the Malaysian jockey.
“He was rising up to Class 3 and the weather was a worry, but we knew he was a fit horse and he won a nice race in the end.”
With that fourth win tucked under his belt, Refresh sees his prizemoney tip over the $150,000 mark for Kok.