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Vlad Duric has not quite rubber-stamped the unbeaten Gingerella and her sire Gingerbread Man as a classic case of ‘like father like daughter’, but he’d be in a good position to draw some parallels.

The Australian jockey was the regular partner of Gingerbread Man when he made a clean sweep of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge in 2011.

The son of Shamardal, who now stands at Yarradale Stud in Perth, already has some of his progeny racing at Kranji, but Gingerella, who also races in Gingerbread Man’s purple colours of owner Joe Singh, seems to be the most promising by far.

After two wins at Kranji, the former Perth one-time winner (in a 1216m race at Bunbury in December 2017) will now face 13 rivals in Friday’s $70,000 Kranji Stakes C Division 2 race over 1200m. Duric will be back aboard after missing out on the second win due to the 53.5kgs weight the four-year-old carried that day when Glen Boss did the honours.

Duric expects Gingerella to be right in the mix again, even if he has a healthy respect for her opponents made up of the likes of stablemate Siam Blue Vanda, Made In Russia and debut winner Bartimaeus, among others.

Being the jockey who held the key that unlocked Gingerbread Man’s potential in the 3YO series, having Duric on top of the daughter can’t be a negative.

“She has the same speed as Gingerbread Man, who was really good between 1200m and 1400m, and just got the mile,” said Duric.

“Gingerbread Man struggled beyond the mile. He ran the Derby but could not run a place – I think she’s a bit the same.

“I couldn’t see why she won’t get 1400m and she might even go further than 1400m. She’s certainly a filly with a bit of quality about her.

“I couldn’t make the weight at her last start, but she went really well. She’s very much improved and it’s nice the owner has put me back on.

“It’s a suitable race for her, and she’s got a beautiful barrier (three), but she’s up in the weights and it will be a bit harder this time. She’s still one of my best chances of the weekend.”

The two-time Singapore champion jockey is hoping Gingerella can help keep up the momentum his season has only picked up in recent weeks after a rather sluggish start.

By the end of January, Duric was sitting in fourth spot on the premiership. Granted he was only a couple of winners behind Noh Senari, but he usually springs the gates quicker.

Duric has since hit top gear, racking up winners, week in week out, including a treble last Friday to now sit perched in familiar territory: On top on 19 winners, two clear of Noh.

There is still a long way to go, and for now, he just wants to chip away, and hopefully winners will beget winners.

“My season is going okay. It was a bit quiet at the beginning, but it’s been really good lately,” he said.

“I have to thank Mike Clements for putting me on good horses who have been able to win.”

Duric was referring to his five-win haul over the weekend of which four came from the Zimbabwean-born trainer – Quarter Back and Silent Partner on Friday, and Vittoria Perfetta and Top Knight on Sunday.

While Gingerella is the standout from his book of five rides on Friday, he could not really pick one among his seven rides for Sunday, but sounded rather partial to Lim’s Magic in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1400m, even if he winces at the barrier draw in 13.

It’s the first time that Duric will ride the Manhattan Rain five-year-old, who was long regarded as a horse heading to the top, but has up to now won only twice from 12 starts – with no feature race win to his name yet.

Duric for one still remained in his corner, saying he was hugely unlucky at his last start in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1400m) when he got checked and held up. He has put his hand up for the ride and he is well intent on making it count this Sunday.

“I worked him one morning and that’s how I got the ride for Sunday,” he said.

“He has dropped in points, but he’s a really good horse. He got knocked out at the start and was held up for a run late at his last start.

“The bad gate will make it hard, but if he has some luck in the running, he will be very competitive.”