Forever Good delivered a bombshell in the S$20,000 Spanish Bay 2015 Stakes in Singapore on Friday night.
With three unplaced runs to his resume thus far, the Battle Paint three-year-old was unsurprisingly given a wide berth by most punters in the Open Maiden race over 1200m.
But jockey Mark Ewe who rode him at his second start to a seventh place, more than 13 lengths off the winner Lim’s Dream, was about the only one who harboured a silent hope.
Though it was no earth-shattering run by any stretch of the imagination, the former three-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey did detect some ability in dribs and drabs in the race, and also in his work at home.
Ewe jumped back on the Young Keah Yong-trained gelding at his fourth start, and decided to just let nature take its course, in other words, not interfere as much as he could and hopefully it pays off.
Smothered up in midfield, Forever Good slipped under the radar for most of the way, leaving the early protagonists to get the ball rolling with Mamamia Mamamia showing the way from favourite and debutant Strap Marks.
The Stephen Gray-trained well-named son of Jimmy Choux out of Dominatrix took the whip hand when he hit the front at the 400m, but could not quite dominate as he pleased.
Out of the pack, the likes of Montoya and Orient Express came testing the top pick, but they were all left reeling when Forever Good came from nowhere for a stunning win that sent a silent hush falling over Kranji.
Orient Express ran second three parts of a length away with Huntsman third another head away. The winning time was 1min 11.6secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
“He’s very green. We tried to run him forward and at the back, but he was not easy to handle,” said Ewe.
“I thought we should just let him do his stuff at the back, maybe he will find his own stride and he may just finish off better.
“At the top of the straight, I knew he would be right in the finish tonight. I still thought maybe a place, but he quickened up very well to win.”
Forever Good’s win not only made the handful of backers who took a punt on him happy but also his connections, the DDD Stable who collected their first prize cheque of around S$12,000 with that maiden victory. -STC