Lim’s Saltoro can remain unbeaten
4YO’s first-up win from a four-month spell has toughened him up for 5-in-a-row bid
You have got to take your hats off to the man – Daniel Meagher, so to speak.
The well-schooled Australian trainer knows his stuff, just like his Melbourne Cup-winning father, John. He himself has achieved a CV envied by others.
His champion, Lim’s Kosciuszko, has taken him to a whole new level – to the world stage with his two (albeit unsuccessful) raids in Hong Kong.
Just a week earlier, on March 23, Meagher brought Lim’s Kosciuszko back to score at his first race of his 2024 campaign.
It was his first after running a respectable ninth in the International Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile (1,600m) on Dec 10.
Meagher deserves all the credit, getting his “Kosi” to win despite not being 100 per cent race-fit because of a lack of work through some quarantine issues.
Lim’s Kosciuszko has now trimmed a lot fitter for his defence of the $1 million Group 1 Kranji Mile (1,600m) on May 18.
Meagher has done the same with his up-and-coming top horse, Lim’s Saltoro.
The four-time unbeaten galloper, too, will be a tougher nut to crack in Race 6 on March 30, after having a run under his belt in the 2024 season.
Lim’s Saltoro was also deemed to be short of a run when he resumed racing on March 2 from a four-month break.
The four-year-old showed it during the race.
But his fighting spirit lifted him to a neck win over Pacific MV, who franked the form by finding one to beat again (War Star) at his next start.
Lim’s Saltoro has blossomed marvellously from the race, as evidenced by his trial second on March 21. He could have won had race-jockey Marc Lerner wanted it.
The opposition on March 30 will be no different from his last two starts – still against Class 4 company. The only differences are the weight he will carry (59kg) and the distance (first over 1,400m).
But, being a big horse weighing 544kg at his last-start success, he should handle both with progress.
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