 |
|
| Sumita Pawar |
 |
Dan Meagher, the trainer of Lim’s Kosciuszko, is preparing his horse for the Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin on Sunday 10th December. Meagher is aware of the challenge that lies ahead, but is keen to add another accolade to the 6YO gelding’s glittering career, which includes wins from 1200m to 2000m and seven Group One victories.
Lim’s Kosciuszko is Singapore’s reigning champion horse of the year and is back at Sha Tin after a modest effort in the Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint at last December’s Hong Kong International Races. This time around, Meagher believes the gelding will be better suited to the 1600m trip where he will face-off against the likes of local heroes Golden Sixty and California Spangle; Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Cairo, France’s Tribalist and five Japanese raiders.
Meagher is unperturbed by people who question Lim’s Kosciuszko’s Singapore form, but he doesn’t care and points to his winning record from sprints to 2000m. “He has won 17 races,” he said. “He is no duffer and we are up against the best, so of course we might be exposed a little bit, obviously but you expect that. But what this horse has done, not many have done it in Singapore.”
While Meagher concedes the legendary sprinter Rocket Man was Singapore’s best galloper, he was restricted to 1200m races but says Lim’s Kosciuszko has shown his versatility by going from 1200m to 1600m and then back to 1200m and then to 2000m. He is also a 1600m course record holder at Kranji.
Meagher, the son of Australian Hall Of Famer trainer John Meagher, is likely to join his brother Chris’ Queensland training operations when racing stops in Singapore. “It’s really sad to be honest that the history has gone,” he said. “It was a great hub for horses and for the many people who have gone through it. I am just doing the best I can and you never know what opportunities might come along in the next six months. And I probably wouldn’t be there now if I didn’t have this horse.”
The only setback to Lim’s Kosciuszko’s Hong Kong campaign is the current suspension to Jimmy Wong who has ridden the gelding to five Group One victories but he has travelled to Sha Tin to ride him in track work. He has been replaced by Australian Damian Lane who has ridden a Group One winner for Chris Meagher.