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French jockey Marc Lerner kept up his good start to the season with his seventh win courtesy of a pick-up ride in Happy Saga on Sunday.
After a subdued start to the start of his Singapore stint in September last year with only two winners in 40 rides, Lerner has been the surprise packet in the riding ranks in 2019.
Tellingly, the son of trainer Carlos Lerner does not command big books of rides at Kranji, let alone leading chances, in spite of his purple patch of form, but his remarkable strike rate of 27% is in stark contrast to last year’s 5%
On Sunday, Lerner who turned 28 on Friday, was booked aboard only Larceny, but earned two extra rides following the withdrawal of apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen due to injury – Moon Charm and Happy Saga.
After Moon Charm and Larceny ran last, Lerner had all but given up on any hope of a belated birthday present on his third and last ride, Happy Saga, an impression cemented further by the way the $91 shot was labouring for most of the $38,000 Kranji Stakes D race over 1600m.
Second-last ahead of the ungenerous Wonderful Era (John Sundradas eventually pulled him out of the race at the 600m), Happy Saga looked a forlorn hope as he spotted race-leader Bangkok Boy (Michael Rodd) about 10 lengths at the top of the straight.
But under Lerner’s trademark tireless urgings, Happy Saga started to sprout wings on the outside as the winning post came into their sights. Yulong Shengdao (Iskandar Rosman) and Hidden Promise (Vlad Duric) were closing in with some purpose on Bangkok Boy, but none of them could contain Happy Saga’s superior finish as the Real Saga seven-year-old went on to post a soft 1 ½-length win from Bangkok Boy.
Yulong Shengdao finished third another half-length away. The winning time was 1min 41.79secs for the Polytrack mile.
“I thought I was beat at the home turn. He was not travelling at all,” said Lerner who rode Happy Saga at his last start for a distant seventh to Centurion.
“I threw everything at him, and he finished over the top of them for a soft win in the end.
“I have no idea how he did it to be honest, but I think he’s more of a Polytrack horse than the turf (at his last start).
“I don’t get many rides and I even pick up horses nobody really wants, but somehow, they win for me. Can’t complain.”
While Happy Saga landing his 10th win from 90 starts would not be something that Lerner would necessarily paste on his Kranji scrapbook, the impression the US-trained and formerly German-based rider has left on Tan might be a bit more lasting.
The former Singapore champion trainer was among the few who have sat up and taken notice of the jockey of Argentinian origin. The pair combined for their first success with Robin Hood last week.
“I have luck with this rider. He won on Robin Hood last week and rode Happy Saga very well today,” said Tan.
“He’s an old horse but he’s quite genuine in this class. The field was not very strong and the rider showed good judgement.
“But I was worried that he was so far back in the first 400m, and it was only at the 800m that I saw him closing in. It’s good for the new owners who just took over Happy Saga.”
Regardless of the owners he raced for, Happy Saga might not win the award for the most reliable conveyance going around at Kranji but with stakes earnings in excess of $330,000, he sure has been a handy moneyspinner.