Trainer Jason Lim’s staunch belief that Metal World’s strongest suit resides in more ground was vindicated by a gutsy win from the US-bred’s win in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1600m) on Saturday.
The Singaporean handler did tinker around with 1400m-1600m trips for the son of Paynter before, with one seven-furlong win as a first test pass, but which was subsequently shot down by an unplaced finish in a Polytrack mile race in February.
The defeat still didn't deter Lim in his resolve to again push the envelope for the horse formerly known as You Qian Zhuan, and Saturday's success proved the Australian-trained handler right.
Adding more merit to the win was the manner it came to fruition by dint of hard work even after his jockey Louis-Philippe Beuzelin lost his whip at the 150m mark. Amazingly, it was a case of déjà vu for the Frenchman as he also parted with his crop aboard the Michael Clements-trained Almugir ($28) one race earlier in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1600m, and still won!
Sent out a $25 shot, Metal World punched the breeze three wide in fifth spot, but seemingly still had enough gas left in the tank when he straightened up. Buddy Buddy (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) showed anything but a friendly disposition when collared by Metal World, but eventually went down by a neck.
Ironchamp (Krisna Thangamani) tried to make all but faltered late to take third place another one-and-three-quarter lengths away. The winning time was 1min 36.43secs for the mile on the Long Course.
"I always believed this horse needed more ground. That's why we tried him over 1600m on turf today," said Lim.
"He failed on 1600m once but that was on Polytrack over two turns. There is only one turn on turf.
"The pace was fast and suited him. The jockey also rated him very well, and the horse got the win.
"He was in great condition. Whether he could win or not, we weren't sure, but we knew he'd run a good race."
While rapt he was spot-on about the longer trips, Lim was not about to pull out the "Mission Accomplished" rubber stamp yet.
"I may look at the Derby for him. We'll see how he pulls up first," said Lim.
"We'll enjoy today's win first. We really needed that win as we've had 20 seconds."
The $400,000 Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) will be held on July 25. The other four-year-old feature race, the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1600m) was run on July 3 and was won by Mr Malek.
Metal World has now amassed close to $130,000 in stakes earnings from his record of three wins and three placings from 16 starts for the Metal World Stable.
