Te Akau Singapore's Flying Season Start

Te Akau Singapore trainer Mark Walker had a stellar opening to the new 2020 season in Singapore - bagging a treble of wins at Kranji on New Year's Day.

The 2019 (and 2015 and 2017) Champion Trainer recorded wins with Altair, Afalonhro and Try Mak Mak - the Singapore Turf Club reported stories on the latter two:

AFALONHRO OPENS ACCOUNT FOR CHAMPION DUO

After a promising debut second late last year, Afalonhro didn't take long to back it up with an emphatic win in the $20,000 Happiness 2020 Stakes, a Maiden race over 1200m on Polytrack at the very first 2020 Singapore race meeting on Wednesday.

A regular finisher in the money (seven placings in 10 starts) at his previous Sydney base when known as Royal Captain under Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan's care, the Australian-bred Lonhro four-year-old already showed his wares at his Kranji debut in an Open Maiden race over 1200m on November 22 when he closed down for second to Perfect.

Unsurprisingly sent out as a short-priced $7 favourite on the strength of that run second-up, Afalonhro - now prepared by three-time Singapore champion trainer Mark Walker for the Omni Stable - never gave his backers any anxious moments throughout the six-furlong spin.

Held together by Vlad Duric (also the freshly-minted three-time Singapore champion jockey) in midfield, Afalonhro was quite clearly a cut above when he was given his head at the top of the straight.

With a few shakes of the rein, the near-black gelding skipped clear to an unassailable lead down the Polytrack straight before being eased down to a five-and-a-half length victory.

Behind, the battle for the minors raged with Geb Warrior (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) and My Money (Shafrizal Saleh) unable to be split in second place. Invisible (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) fought on as well but had to settle for fourth place another short head away.

Afalonhro clocked 1min 13.76secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack.

“He looked a good thing on paper,” said Walker who grabbed a third Singapore champion title on 73 winners last year.

“He was unlucky at his first start when he was checked out of the barriers. He had to make up ground on the Long Course, which was not easy.

“He's a big scopey sort of horse and can go through his grades. When we bought him, he was a four-year-old colt and he was gelded in Sydney.

“Like many horses who are gelded, they can grow a leg after the surgery.”

Duric, who, similarly to Walker, only pulled away from the pack in the fourth quarter of the 2019 season, would probably hope the new campaign will be as easy as that first 2020 salvo.

“I just wanted to keep his momentum and keep him out of trouble,” said the Australian jockey.

“He carried 59kgs while the others had only 50kgs on their backs and he's not really big. I had to be mindful of all that. He was impressive enough, but he still pricked his ears and had a look around. There is still some improvement to come out of him.”

HAKIM A WINNER ON FIRST DAY OF RIDING

Another Kelantan youngster has cemented further the solid reputation the north-eastern Malaysian state has been building over recent years as a nursery of gifted riders.

Better known as Aiman, Hakim Kamaruddin (his registered riding name) is the latest in a long list of Kelantan-born jockeys to have made their mark at Kranji, following into the footsteps of the likes of A'Isisuhairi Kasim, Shafiq Rizuan, Mohd Zaki and Zuriman Zulkifli, to name a few.

The 22-year-old made a dream start to his riding career with a winner at only his second career ride - Try Mak Mak for his master Mark Walker - in the $30,000 Peace & Joy 2020 Stakes, a Class 5 Division 2 race over 1000m on New Year's Day on Wednesday.

Hakim's first ride on Bejewelled (also for Walker) had already given a glimpse of his ability as they finished third to Royal Pavilion in Race 3.

And there was no doubt from the way he punched Try Mak Mak ($41) from a wide alley (11) to tuck into a nice spot behind the speed with cover that Hakim was also blessed with that Kelantan touch.

The Makfi three-year-old, who ran out of the placings at his five previous runs, started to lengthen up once Hakim brought him into the clear down the Polytrack home straight.

Using the persuader twice, Hakim above all showed great poise in keeping his mount balanced up and flowing all the way to the winning post, finishing in advance of Make U Famous (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) by half-a-length with favourite Alaranch (Vlad Duric) third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 1.21secs for the 1000m on the Polytrack.

Speaking basic English, Hakim, however, made it a point to first give thanks to the people who were behind his success.

“I'm very happy I won my first race at my first day,” said Hakim, who rode at a polo club in Kelantan before moving to Maynard's Kuala Lumpur yard two years ago.

“I rode this horse in trackwork, but I didn't really think he could give me my first win today. I'm very happy the boss gave me a very good horse and I say thank you to the boss, the owner and the Singapore Turf Club for giving me a licence.

“I've always liked horses. I don't have any relatives who are in racing, but my friend is a jockey, M Akmazaini, and it's (AM) Aizat (another jockey) who helped me get the job with Frank Maynard. I say a big thank you to them, too.”

Walker has a high opinion of his new apprentice jockey, an impression which was reinforced further from the greenhorn's dexterity in navigating Try Mak Mak from a wide draw to a winnable position on Wednesday.

“Frank Maynard (trainer in Malaysia) rang me up one day and told me he had a boy he wanted to give an opportunity in Singapore,” said Walker.

“So, to be fair, all the grounding was done with Frank. He is a good rider and will go through his grades. I really liked the way he jumped from the outside draw and got into a good position. Obviously, he's got a fair amount of ability.”

On Try Mak Mak, Walker said the gelding needed more time to grow and hit his straps.

“He went through a growth stage and we had to back him off,” he said.

“He's come back strengthened up and we're hoping he will now show better things than what he's shown so far. He's also bred to get more distance.”

With that first win, Try Mak Mak has now racked up around $20,000 in stakes money for the Win Mak Mak No 2 Stable.

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