NEXT UP

From a midtable spot, the Singaporean has shot up the ladder to eighth spot on 17 winners after a highly prolific patch from mid-July with the likes of King Zoustar, Loving Babe, Hosayliao and the stable's well-named senior citizen, Uncle Lucky for what is by far his best season since taking over his former boss Bruce Marsh in 2019.

Interestingly, those four last-start winners will be among a strong team of 11 horses who will try and keep Ong's head of steam going this Sunday.

None of them may figure among Kranji's elite, but such is Ong's strength in the lower divisions that all his 2021 winners hail from that stock, and he is certainly not being picky.

At only his second full season, the Marcus Oldham College (Geelong) alumni derives a personal satisfaction from having paddled his own canoe even if years of honing his craft with Mark Walker, Alwin Tan and Marsh have moulded him into the trainer he is today.

Ong said the current success of his stable probably boils down to one main factor – an in-depth knowledge of all his 35 horses back to front, young or old, especially the latter.

"I'm a young trainer who's only at his second full season, and I really like to explore new things to improve my horses," said the 33-year-old.

"I don't just keep running them to drop points. I explore other ways to get them to their best, and that's how I get to know the history and the strengths and weaknesses of each horse.

"I think the reason why the older horses have contributed to a lot of my wins this season is because I've been with them from Day 1, even during my time with Bruce.

"I have the privilege to know them better and can train them better. Uncle Lucky (nine-year-old by Showcasing) is probably the best case in point – he's a very seasoned frontrunning-style of horse and is still keeping form after his last (all-the-way) win (in a Class 5 race over 5 1⁄2 f on August 1).

"He's running in the ($30,000) Class 5 race over 5 1⁄2 f this week. I wanted to keep the same riding combination as last time, but Hakim (Kamaruddin) is committed to another horse (Wawasan).

"Hosayliao (in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race on the Polytrack mile) is another good example. I know he can be a bit of an in-and-out horse, but I've realised he goes better over Polytrack and Zyrul (Nor Azman) is very confident he can run well again.

"Even among the younger horses, I've had them from scratch, like Loving Babe (running in the first race, the Class 5 Division 1 race over 6 f on Polytrack) or Special Ops , I've got to know them from head to toe."

That said, the path less trodden doesn't seem to have led him astray either. King Zoustar, a recent stable transfer from Lee Freedman, is clearly the finest example of a less familiar quantity gone good as the Zoustar six-year-old aims for a three-in-a-row in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 6 f on Polytrack this Sunday.

In that case, Ong showed that no man's an island. Especially when an Australian Hall of Fame trainer talks, you listen and absorb like a sponge.

"Lee did share what's best for this horse and I just took his advice. For example, he told me he doesn't need much work to train him up," said Ong.

"But obviously, the horse was still a young horse and has taken a long time to mature, and I was just lucky to get him at the right time.

"He's won two in a row for and ran a smart time at the second win, around 1min 10secs. I was very impressed with that run, but it's going to be a bit tougher this time against better horses and he's also drawn the outside (14).

"Hopefully, he can strike again, especially for his connections (Hong Kong's Lucky Unicorn Stable) who had a good run last week, with (Tan) Kah Soon (Huntsman) and Tim (Fitzsimmons, Lucky Jinsha)."

Ong also saddles Special Ops in the same race. Though the Reset five-year-old raced by his father Ong Boon Hin (of War Affair fame) has not saluted since January when he brought up a two-in-a-row in mile races, and has since mixed his form, the last-start third in a Class 4 race over 5 1⁄2 f three weeks ago has brought back renewed hopes.

"I was quite impressed with Special Ops' last run. He ran on in a 5 1⁄2 f that was too short for him," he said.

"When the speed goes, he gets a bit lost. He's a smart horse and he did learn from that race."

The six furlongs is probably still short of his best, but the blinkers applied at his last start will obviously stay on – as well as the pilot, current leading senior jockey Danny Beasley, while Juan Paul van der Merwe who won aboard King Zoustar at his last outing, also keeps the job.