Luck has always been one of those popular words favoured by Asian owners when naming their equine pride and joy, but trainer Desmond Koh could not have hoped for a more auspicious start to the Chinese New Year of the Tiger after Luck Of Master and Lucky Imperator literally brought him double luck on Wednesday.
Incidentally, both horses are raced by owners from Hong Kong where the same emphasis is placed on good fortune and prosperity in horse racing, or any business venture for that matter.
Michael Lam King Poy, who raced handy horses like Mr Luck , Wonderful Prince and Famous Artist with Koh, and whose claim to fame, however, remains 2005 Caulfield Cup winner Railings, owns Luck Of Master while Lucky Imperator races in the famous purple, yellow and red silks of Mr Leung Kai Fai, who won many races at Kranji with the likes of Fantastic Owners or Flying Langfuhr in the past, and more recently with Ocean Crossing and King Zoustar, and is better remembered for Hong Kong champion galloper and stallion Lucky Owners.
"It's a great way to usher in the new year for those two owners from Hong Kong. As you know, they love an auspicious start to the new year, and all things prosperity and good luck," said Koh.
"The horses were waiting for a chance to win on Chinese New Year. I always prepare their horses to win, but even more so for this day, it was important to turn them out for the win.
"Both Michael Lam and his friends, and Mr Leung will be happy with the wins, and me, too. You can say we had plenty of 'luck' today."
Both horses were ridden by three-time Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes, whose polish in the saddle Koh said was the factor that, funnily, took "luck out of the equation".
"Nunes was perfect on both horses," said the Singaporean handler.
"Especially on Luck Of Master , he was the right jockey to get him to run. Nunes did everything right, pushed the button at the right moment.
"It was again down to Nunes for Lucky Imperator. There wasn't much pace in front, and Nunes rated him well.
"The horse went on to the open in front, but like the good jockey he is, Nunes didn't panic. He used his horse's energy sparingly, and the horse kept finding to just win by a lucky nose!"
Quick at barrier rise in the $30,000 Class 5 race over 1200m, the Holy Roman Emperor five-year-old paired off with Dragon Ryker (Wong Chin Chuen) all the way only to get the bob right at the last hop. Boy Next Door (Shafrizal Saleh) claimed third place two lengths away.
Sent out at short odds of $9, Lucky Imperator clocked the winning time of 1min 10.2secs for the 1200m on the Long Course, and has made more than $75,000 in prizemoney from his handy record of three wins and three placings from 18 starts for Mr Leung's Lucky Unicorn Stable.
The will to win was equally laudable for Luck Of Master ($22) two events earlier in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1800m, albeit he was ridden more negative in his customary drop-back style despite breaking from the inner.
Nunes only got on his bike from the 700m mark, and while Luck Of Master was tradesmanlike in the execution, he still got the job done with aplomb to score with a neck to spare from a tenacious Great Expectation (Wong) on the fence.
Voluminous (Mohd Zaki) looked half a chance at the 200m but he could not quite put the race to bed to settle for third place another length away. The winning time was 1min 49.76secs for the 1800m on the Long Course.
That win by Luck Of Master was his fifth from 29 starts, having now brought stakes earnings just a tick under the $170,000 mark for Lam's Luck Of Friendship Stable.
As for Nunes, he kept up his red-hot form with a four-timer - his second in four weeks - with two more winners from other yards - the Michael Clements-trained Mortal Engine ($8) in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1100m and the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained Illustrious ($17) in the last race, the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1200m.
Resuming from a one-day suspension, the Brazilian ace, who trailed Danny Beasley by one win before Wednesday's proceedings, has wasted no time in making up for lost time by reclaiming the lead from the Australian hoop, who himself rode a double with Tony's Love and Lim's Pride. Nunes now sits on top of the pile on 11 winners, one clear of Beasley.
