The name may not have meant a lot to younger racegoers on Sunday, but to the older generation, Johnny Wilson was a top-notch jockey firmly entrenched in Bukit Timah lore in the sixties to mid-seventies.

Wilson won a host of feature races in his native Perth, Western Australia, namely three Perth Cups, but it was in Singapore where he said he rode the best horse in his career, the legendary Jumbo Jet.

"He was a big strong horse, 17 hands tall and a real fighter. He was a freak horse trained by a freak trainer,” said Wilson.

“I’ve ridden many good horses in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius, but Jumbo Jet is probably the best I’ve ridden and the best I’ve seen.”

Committee member Harry Elias (second from left) and trainer Laurie Laxon (right) look on as Johnny Wilson (left) presents a trophy to winning jockey Saimee Jumaat.

The most memorable year for Wilson and Jumbo Jet was without a doubt 1972 when the formidable pair won the Tunku Gold Cup, Singapore Derby and the Perak Derby in which the New Zealand-bred shouldered the prohibitive weight of 67kg.

Wilson has also captured many other feature races on both sides of the Causeway including two other Singapore Derbies with Dark Romance II (1963) and Tien An Mun (1975), another Perak Derby with Tien An Mun (1975), two Singapore Gold Cups with Interest (1970) and Man Of Courage II (1974), two Selangor Gold Cups with Hyrego (1967) and Oona (1971) and one Penang Gold Cup with Dark Romance II (1963).

Visiting Kranji for the first time since his last holiday here in 1993, Wilson who last rode in Singapore in 1976, was impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities and, of course Waikato’s brilliant win in the race that paid tribute to his pet horse.

Ridden by Saimee Jumaat, the Laurie Laxon-trained Waikato defied the general belief he was more of a 1200m sprinter to take out the 1400m race for the second year running, defeating main danger Any Humour by a head. The win incidentally rang up the sixth leg of a fantastic seven-timer for Saimee and the fifth leg of a six-timer for Laxon.

"It was a very good race to watch - a very close finish, and even more thrilling to see Saimee win seven races," said Wilson.

"Saimee only began riding way after I left but I've of course heard about him. He's a world-class jockey.”

"This is my first time at Kranji. My last trip in Singapore was back in 1993 and they were still racing at Bukit Timah then.

"I've not been able to travel as much as I wanted as I’m getting on in years. But I'm glad I was able to be here for the race named after Jumbo Jet.

“I have to thank the Singapore Turf Club for the invitation. I’m deeply honoured I was given the chance to present the prizes to the winning connections.”

Wilson attended Sunday’s races with his wife Lurline and son Warren.

From a South African perspective, Desert Links, the winner of the 2008 Canon Gold Cup ran 6.1 lengths off the winner but he needed the run. He is due to join Basil Marcus when the South African relocates to Singapore at the year end.