3 minute read
Game little sprinter Makkem Lad made a successful racing comeback from bone chip surgery on Saturday.
The son of Kuroshio had both fore fetlocks succumbing to the injury after he ran last in the third Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) in May. Three weeks earlier, he came within a head of springing a major upset in the second Leg, the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m), nabbed late by the eventual 3YO champion, Top Knight.
Trainer Donna Logan gave the two-time winner all the time he needed to overcome the setback, finally producing him nine months later in Saturday's $50,000 Circuit Land 2018 Stakes, a Class 4 Division 2 race over 1000m for his first-up run.
While the awkward alley did force the noted on-pacer to make a bit of haste to go eyeballing Bright Sun (Ng Choon Kiat) in the lead, he still had plenty of petrol left in the tank when he skipped clear at the 300m.
Time To Rock (Ruan Maia) and Thomas De Lago (Marc Lerner) would, however, not let the $8 favourite give the slip so easily as they came throwing down the gauntlet inside the last furlong, but Makkem Lad Lad's trademark tenacity was clearly still in the house.
The two challengers towered over him, but what he lacked in stature, he made up in sheer courage as he dug down deep to hold them safely at bay for a one-length victory from Time To Rock with Thomas De Lago third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 59.62secs for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
"He has been the most professional racehorse from Day 1. He's a tiny little boy, but he's all heart," said the Kiwi handler who saddled another Kuroshio to a win on Friday, Qiji Diamond.
"He had chips removed from both fetlocks, and we decided not to trial him, save him from as many runs as possible.
"The only concern was the 58.5kgs. We thought about putting Simon Kok on for the two-kilo claim, but he couldn't get on.
"In the end, Vlad said he would ride him as he knows the horse very well, and the rest is history."
As much as the triple Singapore champion jockey had to convince the Kiwi handler for the booking, he had to be just as persuasive in the saddle, especially inside the last 250m.
"He came in without any trials, so he was quite fresh. Halfway, he wanted to run through the bridle," said Duric.
"So, I decided to just go with him. At the back of my mind, I thought he might hit a brickwall, but he was just too good.
"He's only a little horse, he doesn't carry a lot of body, but he's such a quality horse."
In 10 starts, Makkem Lad has now won three races and ran second four times for stakes earnings that have now hit around the $230,000 mark for the Eden Park Stud Racing Stable.
