Bittersweet changing of the guard for Laxon 12 Dec 2009
Michael Lee (Singapore Turf Club)
Trainer Laurie Laxon got a huge thrill from saddling the quinella in the $125,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1000m on Friday, but one suspects it was former stable star sprinter Why Be’s brave second who gave the Kiwi conditioner a slightly bigger kick than Noble Manor’s resounding win.
Why Be, who scored the last of his amazing haul of 21 victories back in February 2008, is clearly in the twilight of his career, but the seven-year-old could not be faulted for racing with the same zest that has seen him reach superstardom status at Kranji.
And the old fire was evidently still in the belly when Irish jockey Fran Berry steered him to the front at the 200m after stalking the speed set by the leader Super Gold (Soo Khoon Beng).
For a fleeting second, it looked like the Perfectum Stable warrior could revive old memories with one more hurrah, but it wasn’t to be when stablemate Noble Manor ($13) came with a wet sail on the outside under the guidance of Joao Moreira to score going away by 1 ½ lengths, in the process equalling Lago Bay's course record of 59 seconds.
Why Be hung on for second by a head from Amadeus Mozart (Robbie Fradd) to pocket enough prizemoney to sweep past the $2 million mark, with Super Gold losing no admirers in fourth another half-a-length away.
Standing at the winner’s circle rails after the race, a wisftul Laxon looked at the replay on the giant screen, his eyes trained on the blue and white colours of Why Be, wondering what could have been.
“He was still a winner here. He’s got such a will to win – and he did that shouldering 59kg,” he said as Why Be hit the lead with Noble Manor yet to emerge on the outside. “If not for Moreira riding Noble Manor, Why Be would have won.
“But I think that Irish jockey is also a very good rider. I left it to him how best to ride Why Be and he gave him as good a ride he could possibly get.
“I wish he (Why Be) could win just one more race before he is retired. It’s not getting any easier for him with the heavy handicap.
“1000m is about as far as he can go now to be really competitive. This horse has brought so much to me and I hope he can win one more race.”
While Laxon knows there may not be many fights left in the old champ, he sounded pretty excited by Noble Manor’s future prospects.
“He’s a good young horse and tonight he had to be ridden back from his wide gate. It’s a 1000m race and the pace was always going to be hot anyway,” said Laxon.
“He’s more of a 1400m horse and his next target is next year’s Three Rings Trophy. Unfortunately he will run against Better Than Ever, but you can’t keep them away from each other for too long – they’re bound to clash at some stage.”
The Three Rings Trophy is a Group 3 event over 1400m that will be staged on January 29 next year.
Noble Manor is a four-year-old by Stravinsky out of the Jetball mare Sarwatch and has now scored six wins and five placings for prizemoney past $380,000 for the Silver Fern Racing Stable.
The Laxon-Moreira combination scored a winning double when Riviera Star (formerly Ace Arriba) prevailed in a blanket finish by a head from Cool Cadillac (Steven Li) in the last race, the $55,000 Class 4 race over 1900m.
Moreira consolidates his third place in the jockeys' log on 65 wins while the double rang up Laxon's 93rd win to bring him a little closer to the century mark with only three meetings left.
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