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Arigato led his rivals on a merry chase in the rain to win the RM50,000 Sungai Besi Autoworld Cup over 1200m at Sungai Besi here today.
The nine-time winner in Macau had attempted to do the same in the RM100,000 Singapore Pools Trophy (1300m) in his Malaysian debut in Ipoh last Nov 3 but failed to run on in the straight to finish fourth to Shang Chi.
Obviously benefiting from that run, the Charm Spirit gelding went straight to the front again after the jump in the Supreme A set-weight race today.
The six-year-old was always nicely clear of the chasing Good Fight with the rest of the nine-horse field struggling to keep up on the wet track.
Good Fight came within a length of the leader at the 300m but Arigato , ridden by Lim Shung Uai, found another gear and kicked away in the final 200m to win by 2-1/2 lengths. Sincerely came home second, well ahead of Pacific Padrino.
"It was always the plan to lead in the race," said jockey Lim who also rode the gelding in his debut.
"As it was raining, I decided to up the tempo as it would an advantage for the front runners in this situation.
"I knew someone was coming up to me at the top of the straight but my horse responded and went strongly to the line. It was an easy win."
Arigato was purchased for NZ$150,000 at the New Zealand Ready To Run sale and enjoyed two very successful seasons in Macau, winning nine races from 1200m to 1500m.
