Nunes, Lim firing on all cylinders again

By the looks of things, trainer Jason Lim and jockey Manoel Nunes are fast becoming firm friends.

They make a good team and, as it is with all “good teams”, they are scoring.

We saw them post a double at the just-concluded meeting.

Lim prepared General Command and Super Salute to a tee for the Brazilian hoop. It is well documented both winners were bought online at the Inglis Digital sale.

Lim was not around to high-five his new ally. He was at a yearling sale in Australia, but he would have sent his congratulations.

Well, Lim had one runner at the trials on Tuesday morning and surprise, surprise, it is yet another Inglis Digital graduate, whom he bought for A$80,000 (S$74,000).

No prizes for guessing who was picked to be in the saddle.

Yes, Nunes partnered Thunder Star and the pair romped home ahead of the rest.

The margin was just three parts of a length but all credit to Thunder Star and Nunes. They did it the hard way.

Holding third at the get-go, Nunes chose the scenic route home. Allowing Luxury Brand to show the way and Apis to follow, Thunder Star came into contention only at the 600m. That was where Nunes made his move.

Knowing from experience – he had ridden Thunder Star in a previous trial – that he had a good horse beneath him, he eased the Fighting Sun four-year-old into the action and ready for the challenge.

Straightening for the run home, Thunder Star found the front and, although Yusoff Fadzli on Luxury Brand fought back, Nunes and the Lim-trained gelding had too much going for them to be beaten.

Luxury Brand took second, ahead of Trident.

Thunder Star did the trip in an “okay” time of 61.20sec. It was not the fastest of the morning but he was impressive.

For the record, it was Thunder Star’s second win at the trials. On Jan 31, he beat the highly-rated Minister in a photo-finish, clocking 61.12.

A two-time winner at his first two starts at Morphettville, when trained as Gulf Of Suez by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Thunder Star has yet to make his Kranji debut.

When Lim eventually sends him to the races, be sure you have something riding on him – especially if you see the name Nunes down as the jockey.

Thunder Star aside, the trial confirmed what many racegoers already know. That Pacific Bao Bei is something special. He finished fourth but it was a terrific run.

Ridden by Wong Chin Chuen, he travelled wide all the way and was second last on straightening.

But, when given a shake of the reins, Pacific Bao Bei got into his true rhythm. Running on full power, he eventually finished just over a length behind the winner.

An Irish-bred by Sea The Stars, Pacific Bao Bei made a winning debut when beating a Class 4 field over 1,400m on turf. That was on Jan 23.

Michael Clements has kept his motor running and it will not surprise one bit should Pacific Bao Bei make it two from two.

Along those same lines, Prioritize also drew attention to himself when winning the last hit-out of the morning.

Like Pacific Bao Bei, Prioritize did not win his trial. He ran fourth but scored full marks for effort.

Prioritize was dead last on settling but he had Vlad Duric in the saddle and we knew that something good was bound to happen.

Passing the 600m and the four-year-old was still 15 lengths behind the lead, which was shared by Hurricane and Ayya.

Duric peeled his mount to the extreme outside 200m out and, just like that, Prioritize lengthened strides. From being out of it, Prioritize was suddenly right in it.

But the finish loomed a touch too soon, and Hurricane was home and hosed. Prioritize had to settle for fourth. But in those last moments, he had sprouted wings.