McDougall, better late than never
Just four days ago, Blaike McDougall was staring down the barrel of only one ride in the last four weeks he was meant to ride at Kranji before racing ends.
The Australian’s perseverance was finally rewarded with three more rides, but he said he would have still flown over for just the one ride on Lover Boy, even if it was a $45,000 Class 5 race (1,200m) on the undercard to the $1.38 million Group 1 Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m).
“I would’ve still come over for one ride,” said the Melbourne-based McDougall, who has never ridden in Singapore, let alone anywhere else around the world.
“I wanted to be part of history and this last event before racing sadly closes in Singapore.”
McDougall was granted a licence to ride at the final five days on Sept 7, 14, 21, 28 and Oct 5, but his name never popped up.
It turned out the 900-race winner struggled to secure rides even after his agent Hayden Kelly worked the phones tirelessly.
“It would’ve been easier if I was here riding work. I couldn’t come earlier also because some of the weights were too low,” he said.
“I’m very grateful to Ricardo Le Grange for putting me on Lover Boy first, and to Daniel Meagher (Always Together) and Donna Logan (China Pearl and Axel).”
McDougall flies in on Oct 4 and flies back to Australia on Oct 6.
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