Juglall third in Mauritius series, no joy for See
  Story By Michael Lee in Mauritius     

Monday, 3 December 2018: Singapore apprentice jockey Troy See ended up not winning any race in Mauritius, with a late neck injury compounding his misery further on Sunday, forcing him to stand down from his last two rides.

Overdose winning the THE BEST GROUP SOUVENIR CUP
Overdose winning the THE BEST GROUP SOUVENIR CUP


See pulled a neck muscle when his fifth ride at the second Leg of the Air Mauritius & Attitude International Jockeys’ Weekend, The Thinker, stumbled out of the gates.



Rated as his best chance of the day, The Thinker dropped out at the rear and could only finish fourth to Horse Guards (Dwayne Dunn) to earn See one point (bringing his total score to seven points) for what was to be his last outing around the Champ de Mars.

The Mauritius Turf Club doctors stood See down from his last two rides, Greatfiveeight and He’s Got Gears, who were then taken over by designated replacement rider Brandon Louis.



It was a disappointing end to a first Mauritius adventure which had already left See with a bitter taste at the first Leg on Saturday when he agonisingly lost a race on favourite Ouzo in the Stewards’ room on his 30th birthday. The successful claimant was fellow Kranji jockey Nooresh Juglall, who rode the second horse past the post, Bonnie Prince



But See was still looking at the bright side.



“It was definitely a different style of riding here. I can feel my riding has improved when I came here,” said See.



“Over here, the horses jump out and don’t come back underneath you. It’s taught me to hold them as long as I can.



“There are four corners to the track and if you settle three wide, you’re as good as gone.



“As it’s a short straight, if you move early, you’re gone, if you move too late, you may miss the race.



“I would like to thank the Mauritius Turf Club and the sponsors for inviting me.”


See will, however, be returning home on Monday as the newly-minted Singapore champion apprentice jockey. Main rival, defending champion Wong Chin Chuen cut back the nine-win margin by two winners during See’s absence, aboard Battle Of Troy and Kirks Ryker, but it was insufficient to stop See in his hunt for a first title.



Wong was suspended for two separate faults aboard Boy Next Door in a race on November 30 for four meetings. He won’t be back until January 7, 2018, effectively ending his season and the suspense in the apprentice jockeys’ title.



On the other hand, Juglall fared much better than See in Mauritius, booting home a third winner before his home crowd on Sunday (Overdose) after ringing up a double on Saturday (In Your Dreams and Bonnie Prince). He finished third on 31 points, three points behind eventual champion Maxime Guyon who was racking up a third title after that won in 2014 and 2016.



Second on the log at the halfway point, hopes of a first title soared for the Mauritian jockey when he won aboard Overdose in Race 4, but he could not chalk up more points after that in the next three races.



Guyon could not add more wins to the treble from Saturday - Rap Attack, Varside and Good Buddy - but scraped up a couple of placings to still score by a nose (one point) from Sunday hat-trick hero and fellow Frenchman Aurelien Lemaitre.



“It was close between Maxime and myself, but Ashfords Legacy let me down in the last race. He was slow out of the gates and it was tough from there; he is still a young horse and will take some time to improve,” said Juglall.



“I also thought Victory Team could give me some points, but I think the 1400m was too far for him.



“I needed the points in the last three races, but things didn’t work out. Still getting three winners and a third place overall is great, can’t complain.”

The final standings are as follows:

 

 JockeysCountry Points
     
1Maxime GuyonFRA 34
2Aurelien LemaitreFRA 33
3Nooresh JuglallMAU 31
4Manuel MartinezCHL 24
5Robbie FraddSA 21
6Dwayne DunnAUS 19
7Manoel NunesBRZ 18
8Jameer AllyhosainMAU 16
9Seamie HeffernanIRE 15
10Akshay KumarIND 12
11Mickaelle MichelFRA 7
11Troy SeeSIN 7
13Brandon LouisMAU 1





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