Stephen Crutchley has led in countless winners at Kranji, but Saturday was the first time the Kiwi horseman was heading down to the winner’s circle as a trainer in his own right.

The New Zealander has been part of the local racing landscape since joining forces with owner Constance Cheng and becoming assistant-trainer to Mark Walker in 2014.

The likes of Makkura , Fame Star , their two best horses, or bread-and-butter sorts like Charger and Silent Boss are some of the winners Crutchley has put his polish on at Kranji.

The 54-year-old would already know the giddy sensation of seeing his own horses win as he did train more than 100 winners when he held a trainer's licence in New Zealand from 2002 to 2014, but Saturday's achievement just had that extra special appeal.

The only blemish was the solitary walk down the horse tunnel towards the lead-in area – Cheng and her Toast Trusts partners would never have missed this occasion had the Grandstand doors been open to the public and owners.

"It's a shame Constance Cheng and her partners and friends can't be here to celebrate," said Crutchley after Mesmerizing  came off a scrap a short-head winner from Cheval Blanc (Marc Lerner) in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1700m.

"First off, I have to thank Constance and the Toast Trusts Stable for their support from Day 1. I wouldn't have made it without them, and I also have to thank the Singapore Turf Club for giving me the licence."

Crutchley has applied for stables at Kranji several times, got knocked back, but is glad he has not taken no for an answer when he was finally given the nod at the end of last year.

After saddling his first seven runners without much luck at his first two race meetings, Crutchley, who also dabbled in horse sales, felt if there was to be a breakthrough, it could come in that Class 4 race where he had two of the seven runners, being also responsible for Green Star (Akmazani Mazuki).

"I thought both horses had a good chance. They've both been working well, looked really well in their colour," he said.

"I was a bit surprised the other horse (Green Star) was held back further than I would have liked and didn't travel closer as he was supposed to lead. Not sure what happened there, but he still ran well (fourth).

"The winner didn't like sand in his face the last time, and we put the blinkers on today. That made a big difference."

Mesmerizing actually scored on debut on the all-weather, but raced poorly at his subsequent three starts, including the last two on Polytrack. Unsurprisingly, he started at long odds of $181 on Saturday, but a bit of gear tinkering coupled with a persevering ride from in-form apprentice jockey Iskandar Rosman (he went on to ride a treble to snap a long run of outs – since November 2021) led to the big upset.

"Iskandar also rode him very well. I've always had a lot of luck with Iskandar," said Crutchley.

The Malaysian apprentice jockey did win in the Toast Trusts green, black and yellow silks aboard Charger and Proof Perfect last year, and was certainly well inspired in keeping Mesmerizing in close attendance behind race-leader Queen Lagertha (Saifudin Ismail) throughout.

The Argentinian-bred four-year-old entire by Cosmic Trigger is not exactly blessed with an electric turn of foot, but when Iskandar stoked the chestnut up for his run at the 300m, he rallied like a bulldog.

Queen Lagertha (late Caribbean Lady) fought back on the rails, but it was Cheval Blanc (Marc Lerner) whose dash was looking the most ominous back on the fence. The winning post, however, arrived on time for Mesmerizing who prevailed by a short head from Cheval Blanc with Queen Lagertha bravely hanging on for third place another head away.

The winning time was 1min 48.1secs for the 1700m on the Polytrack.

"I'm happy I rode Mr Crutchley's first winner," said Iskandar.

"I've never ridden this horse before, but I watched the replays when CC (Chin Chuen) Wong rode him. Mr Crutchley told me to sit back if there is a horse faster than him, and we did just that.

"We followed the pace throughout and in the straight, he gave a strong kick. This horse has a big heart – just like the rider (laughs)!"

Mesmerizing was taking his record to two wins from five local starts for stakes earnings hitting around the $40,000 mark for the Toast Trusts/Mesmerizing Stable.