Lamborghini Flame bounced back to the winner’s circle in style on Friday, aided greatly by a freshen-up, light weight and a supercharged Aidil Feiruz down the home straight.
After jumping the noted frontrunner straight to the lead from his barrier No 1 in the $125,000 Open Class race over 1400m, Feiruz went for home early when Lamborghini Flame opened up a commanding break of seven to eight lengths down the backstraight to the home turn.
While some may have thought the Jugah four-year-old, whose recent form had been far from inspiring, would come back on the chasing pack headed by Always Certain (Ronnie Stewart) and Arjuna (Saifudin Ismail), he just kept running, with Feiruz furiously wielding the whip like there was no tomorrow.
Spurred on by the relentless whacking, Lamborghini Flame dug deep to come up with another rally. Always Certain and Arjuna looked like they had half a chance at the 200m but they never really threatened to finish two lengths astern in second and another half-a-length away in third respectively.
Trainer Leslie Khoo was at the double having earlier saddled Race 3 winner Sky Protégé.
“After his recent runs, I felt he needed a break and I gave him a freshen,” said Khoo.
“He’s been working well on the tracks and I was hoping for a nice run first-up. I told Feiruz to jump him well and give him a soft lead if he could.
“I didn’t expect him to go that far ahead. He went too soon, I feel but the light weight was a huge advantage and helped him go all the way.”
Feiruz, the son of former jockey Bakri Hayon, said he had not realised he had forged such a big lead.
“Leslie told me to go to the front. I thought I was three lengths clear,” said Feiruz.
“Anyway, the horse was always travelling well for me and when I let go at the 300m, he kicked clear again.
“He was getting a bit tired in the last 50m but he still won by a margin. Nice win.”
Lamborghini Flame, who paid $30 for a win, recorded 1min 23.43secs for the 1400m over the Long Course to bring up his sixth win and stakes past the $340,000 mark for the Winery Stable.