A STAR PERFORMER FROM SINGAPORE WITH A STRONG AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION

By Darren Winningham | Saturday, December 10, 2022

Can Lim’s Kosciuszko, the remarkable Singaporean sprinter climb to the peak of the mountain and win the HK$24 million (Group 1) sprint on LONGINES Hong Kong International Race Day?

He has proven his versatility by winning from 1200 metres to 1800 metres for trainer Australian Dan Meagher.

He has an impressive record coming to the big stage of Sha Tin with 11 wins from 14 starts ... with two starts at Group 1 level for two wins – 100% strike rate. Can he keep that record alive in Hong Kong?

Lim's Kosciuszko, ridden by Danny Beasley, scored his most significant win to date July 17 this year, getting the money in the $400,000 Singapore Derby (Group 1) over 1800 metres.

He was then sent for a spell and then resumed in the $300 000 Lion City Cup (Group 1) on 14 August 14 over 1200 metres with just a four week freshen up – in what was a very bold training effort by Meagher ... where he once again showed his mettle $300,000 by making it back-to-back wins at Group 1 level.

Since then, he has had a 13-week spell and resumed in a Class 1 race over 1200 metres on November 19.

If you go through his form his best efforts are coming off a three or four week freshen up. He goes into this race with three weeks between runs with his regular Australian rider Danny Beasley to ride.

Here lies the other story – Danny Beasley will ride the only Singapore runner at the LONGINES Hong Kong racing carnival in 2022. In fact, it has been many years since they have been represented.

Another sub-plot here is that Beasley has recently announced that he is returning to Australia to finish off his career. He has ridden in Singapore since 2006, riding for 11 years consecutively except for 2015 when his license was inexplicably not renewed for that season.

From 2017 he retired from the saddle and joined Dan Meagher as an assistant trainer until February 2021 when he returned to the saddle and has been riding Lim’s Kosciuszko since returning to the saddle at Kranji.

Beasley, now 47 will draw a curtain on a fabulous riding career in Asian on the biggest day of racing at Sha Tin prior to returning to Australia and basing himself in Wagga Wagga.

One thing is for sure this Singaporean sprinter could send him out on a massive high come Sunday!

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