Captain America retires
IMPRESSIVE: FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN CHAMPION RIDES 200TH SINGAPORE WINNER
Mauritian jockey due to become a father.
After a frustrating six meetings without a winner Mauritian jockey Nooresh Juglall finally cracked the ice aboard Cadet to give him his 200th victory in Singapore.
Juglall and many others thought he would have reached the landmark win earlier when a brace with Song To The Moon and Hooga Net on 1 July edged him closer on 198 winners. But to his sheer frustration, a flurry of seconds which unfortunately do not add up to a win.
But the long wait was finally over when a fantastic four-timer took him over the line and beyond.
At the Korea Racing Authority Trophy meeting on 22 July the former two-time South African apprentice harboured hopes it would coincide with double joy his 27th birthday and a win with Rafaello, the same horse who handed him his first century on 21 August 2016.
Rafaello could only finish second to Skywalk in the KRA Trophy, and his other rides did not fare any better.
With his wife, Chaaya, due to give birth to their first child in Mauritius very soon, Juglall had already planned to head home on 18 August. He had only five meetings left if he wanted to hop on the plane with the record already under the belt.
Looking at his book of seven rides on Friday, Juglall had a good hunch it was this time or never – and he got more than he bargained for. The Young Keah Yongtrained Berlinetta ($24), his first ride in Race 1, took him to within one win of his milestone. His next ride My Win was scratched while longshot Military Might, raced by Thai outfit Kajorn Petch Stable, ran sixth in Race 3.
Juglall had much better luck with the other Kajorn Petch Stable-owned Cadet ($21) at his next ride in the $80,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1000m. He could fly home with the double century in his suitcase, and get ready for that much bigger event in his life - fatherhood.
But all good things seem to come in fours for Juglall, with Zac Ace ($22) handing him a threetimer in the next race, before Mokastar ($33) wrapped up the memorable night with a fourth win in the $100,000 Class 2 race over 1000m.
The last three winners were all trained by Juglall’s main supporter, Ricardo Le Grange.
“I’ve been waiting for a while for this second milestone. The first 100 came with Rafaello in the Group 3 race and I’ve got another 100 in Singapore with Cadet tonight,” said a beaming Juglall.
“To get four is the icing on the cake. I’d like to dedicate this 200th win to my mum and dad back home, my wife and of course my new baby.
“I still have another three meetings before I fly out so, hopefully, I can ride a few more winners before I go, there’ll be one more mouth to feed soon!”
Of his milestone provider Cadet, Juglall deflected all the credit to Le Grange and his assistanttrainer Jacci de Tert. “Ricardo and Jacci have looked after this horse like he was their own child, and it’s great he bounced back to winning form at his first race back tonight,” said Juglall who, with that four-timer, consolidated his fourth place on 35 winners, 12 behind leader Vlad Duric.
“He won quite comfortably considering there were a lot of fit horses in the race. Ricardo does a great job with his horses before he brings them to the races, he makes sure they’re 110% fit.
“This horse has a big heart and big thanks to the owner as well.”
While Le Grange credited Juglall for a great ride on the Captain Sonador five-year-old, the lion’s share of his compliments was directed at his indefatigable right-hand woman, De Tert.
“This horse has had so many problems. He had knee chips, but the owner never put any pressure on me, they’ve been very patient and left it to me to decide what to do with their horse,” said the South African handler.
“But a massive thank you goes to Jacci. She’s the one who brought this horse back to the races. It was a huge win from such a long layoff (250 days).” –