Beasley bows out with a win

[Wandering Eyes]

Jockey Danny Beasley bid Singapore farewell with a well-timed run in the opener, scoring aboard Lim’s Zoom (NZ) (Zacinto) for his all-time supporters in the Class 5 1200 at Kranji on Saturday.

Per Incrown (NZ) (Per Incanto) was closing in on the outside but had to settle for second half-a-length behind at the post. Happy Friday (NZ) (Shooting To Win) finished another three-quarters-of-a-length in third.

The happiness doubled six races later after Beasley made an aggressive but smart winning move around the bend on noted stayer King’s Speech (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and the Stephen Gray-trained gelding bounded away to a one-and-a-half-length victory in the Class 5 2000m.

Thanks to talented stars like Lim’s Kosciuszko and Lim’s Lightning in recent times, local racegoers have become all too familiar seeing the well-liked Australian hoop donning the blue and yellow star silks of the prominent Lim’s Stable in races.

Best known on the international stage for his win with Polar Success in the 2003 Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes for Graeme Rogerson, Beasley has been riding in Singapore since 2007, with the exception of 2015, and from 2018 to 2020 when he hung up his boots to become Daniel Meagher’s assistant-trainer.

The 47-year-old came out of retirement last year to re-join the Kranji riding ranks, and immediately swept three Group 1 wins (Lion City Cup, Raffles Cup and Singapore Gold Cup) with Lim’s Lightning, before partnering Lim’s Kosciuszko to another Group 1 win in the Singapore Derby this July.

While he ranks fourth on the jockeys’ log on 28 wins this year, Beasley has won 10 local Group 1 races and 19 other ‘black type’ races at Kranji thus far.

Despite a successful return to the saddle and the solid support from Meagher and the Lim’s Stable, he did not apply for a new licence for the next season as the thought of going home had been at the back of his mind.

“Every time I put this colour (Lim’s Stable’s silks) on, I get a bit emotional,” said the affable jockey, whose other most notable association in Singapore was with the 2014 Horse of the Year, War Affair (NZ) (O’Reilly).

“(Owner) Mr Lim (Siah Mong) and Daniel has been such a big part of my life. They gave me so much trust. We became much closer and are great friends off the track.

“I’m just so lucky, probably more so in the last six years when Daniel started to train (in 2016), and since I came back to ride in the last couple of years.

“This might be my last meeting here, but there’s always a time for everything. I love my family at home, my mum and dad, and I got to think for them.

“We’d (with his wife Siti and three kids) probably head back home in mid-December after my ride in Hong Kong. We will get there before Christmas.

With his family by his side, Beasley will also continue his riding career in his hometown in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Before that, the homebound jockey has one last mission on hand after Kranji’s last meeting on Saturday.

He will fly out next Saturday, joining hands with Meagher and Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec), the talented Trelawney Stud bred sprinter from Lim’s Stable, to represent Singapore in the HK$24 million Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) held at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin racecourse on December 11.

Other New Zealand bred winners at Kranji on Saturday include War Frontier (NZ) (Declaration Of War), Beyond Sacred (NZ) (Savabeel), & Moongate Star (NZ) (Atlante).

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