IPOH – Simon Kok Wei Hoong bagged his first double at the Ipoh meeting on Oct 31 since making his riding comeback in June, and it started with the horse Qiji Star, whom he was first associated with back in Singapore in 2021.

Kok, who won the Singapore champion apprentice title twice in 2019 and 2020, rode the Star Witness galloper thrice at Kranji in 2021 but finished unplaced.

“I don’t really remember much as he was not a horse of note except he was then trained by Donna Logan,” recalled Kok.

After Qiji Star was transferred to Malaysia, Kok rode him once in a Class 5A event (1,200m) at Sungai Besi in 2023 when the gelding was under the care of Tan Eng Peow.

“That one, I don’t remember at all,” he admitted.

But the jockey and horse partnership was to have their winning moment in the RM18,000 (S$5,600) Class 5C race (1,000m) on Oct 31.

Now trained by Kevin Coetzee in Ipoh, Qiji Star ($12) jumped best and quickly took command to lead his rivals on a merry chase.

Magnitude (Haikal Hanif) chased him home from the 300m but to no avail. Qiji Star made all to win by ¾ length. Elite Saint (Nuqman Rozi) finished another 1½ lengths away in third.

The winning time was 59.47sec for the 1,000m on the short course.

The Ipoh-born rider was worried about the 10-year-old veteran’s heavy impost, but the innermost gate helped in the sprint.

“I was concerned about the weight (59kg) but the barrier (1) helped,” he said.

It was Kok’s first win for Coetzee, who went on to pull off a brace with Radetzky Marsch ($23) saluting under A’Isisuhairi Kasim in the Class 5A (1,400m) contest.

Kok also landed a double when the Ooi Chin Chin-trained Section Eighteen ($24) claimed the Progress race (1,200m).

He has ridden the son of Territories twice and the most recent was just six days ago at Sungai Besi when Section Eighteen led into the straight but faded to finish seventh to Strategise in a Max Two race over 1,300m.

This time, Kok settled the five-year-old gelding in second behind pacemaker Invincible God War (Aizat Malik) upon jumping.

Invincible God War broke away half way in the race but started to come under pressure at the 200m and drifted out.

Section Eighteen took the run on his inside and hit the front 100m out.

He was heading for an easy win until Red Jade came charging home in the closing stages but failed to catch Section Eighteen by a short head.

Kok was relieved his mount won, and was pleased with two winners in Ipoh.

“He (Section Eighteen) is a genuine horse and I wasn’t disappointed with his last start,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure if I won at the post but one more stride, the other horse (Red Jade) would have passed me.

“Things seems to be getting better after a rough start in my comeback and I am pleased with my first double achieved back at my home town.”

In the highlight event of the 12-race meeting, Baby Biscuit ($61) caused an upset when he prevailed by a neck under Aizat in the Cosmo C race (1,400m).

The five-year-old son of Vanbrugh has won four times in 15 starts previously, but his last three runs have been disappointing.

Baby Biscuit’s trainer and former jockey Yan Weng Kuan said he found the in-and-out performer a tough nut to crack.

“He (Baby Biscuit) is a hard horse to figure out,” he said.

“He shows you nothing in the mornings so It’s hard to know where he is.

“Initially I thought he was an out-and-out sprinter after winning over 1,100m and 1,000m, but he has been showing liking for longer trips.

“He had back-to-back wins over 1,400m and 1,300m in August. Then, I tried him over 1,200m in his last two runs but he failed to fire.” TURFONLINE