TRIED AND TESTED ONES TO THE FORE

Meagher counts on bread-and-butter horses to cement second spot on the trainers' table

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The name Meagher is often linked to champion racehorses.

Ex-Kranji trainer John Meagher has saddled a plethora of stars that include the 1985 Melbourne Cup winner What A Nuisance and Kim Angel in the Singapore equivalent, the Singapore Gold Cup in 2000.

And his son Daniel is best known for the deeds of three greats of Singapore racing: Lim's Lightning, Lim's Kosciuszko and, more recently, Lim's Saltoro.

But, for all the plaudits when leading in an incredible 15 Group 1 winners in the last four years at Kranji, the younger Meagher puts the same polish on all his horses.

With a winning strike rate of 16.33% in the 2024 season, the process seems to be working.

That strike rate has Meagher sitting second on the trainers' premiership with 41 wins from just 251 starters. While knowing he cannot catch leader Jason Ong (68 wins) before the season ends on Oct 5, he trusts the system to keep the winners coming with his "bread and butter" horses flying the stable flag, more often than not.

"You have to follow the system," said Meagher on Aug 27. "And not just the stars like 'Kosi' (Lim's Kosciuszko) and Lim's Saltoro. Every horse in the stable follows basically the same routine and, when we can, we don't change anything.