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Trainer Steven Lam got his second win of the night when apprentice jockey Rueven Ravindra hit the line first aboard Silent Arrow in the $38,000 Kranji Stakes D Div 1 race (1400m) on Friday.
Rueven had already ridden atop another Lam-trained winner, Become Rich, in the opening race. In that closely fought affair, the Fully Fleged five-year-old jumped well from barrier one to ride the rails and keep within touching distance of the early pacesetters.
Become Rich made his move in the homestraight but had to put in a shift before eventually hitting the line first in a four-way blanket finish.
There was no such drama with the $130 longshot Silent Arrow. Having drawn wide in gate number 13, Rueven managed to spear the Red Arrow four-year-old into a good position to enter the bend in third, behind the pacy duo of Big City (Wong Chin Chuen) and Perfect Curiosity (Joseph See).
Silent Arrow continued his assault on the frontrunners with a gutsy run three wide off the rails and into the straight, before showing a clean pair of heels with 200m to go.
Rueven’s second win for Lam, and incidentally for the Stanna Stable as well, was sealed when he crossed the winning post one-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of his nearest rival Pusaka (Michael Rodd).
$19 favourite Muscle Beach (Shafiq Rizuan) was third, a further three-parts-of-a-length away.
The winning time was 1min 22.86sec for the 1400m over the Long Course.
Rueven was clear where the plaudits should go for his double race wins.
“The horses were very well prepared by Steven Lam and his team,” said the Malaysian apprentice jockey.
“It was my first mount on him and he looked like he had a big improvement from his last run.
“For sure he can go further if he recovers well.”
Lam was savouring the moment as he recounts a difficult year for his yard.
“He took an 87 day break before his last start because we felt he needed a break to recover and improve.
“He is an honest horse and I would like to thank Inglis because I bought him from them in 2013 and he was ready to race.
“I would also like to thank the Club for being patient with me. The owners and the team too for sticking by me during the hard times, when in a short span of two weeks back in February, I lost half my yard to other trainers. But that is racing I guess.
“I would also like to thank Aslam for riding and educating the horse during trackwork. Based on his (Silent Arrow) pedigree and the improvement I saw during trackwork, he can go further.”
With this win, Silent Arrow has brought stakes earnings in excess of $65,000 to the Stanna Stable and their connections.