Gray said April’s Knight had a “stayers pedigree” and was purchased at the Karaka Premier Yearling Sales.

“We were able to get him quite cheap,” said Gray. “He staked himself as a yearling and had a nasty scar.

“That turned quite a few people off. With his pedigree he probably should have made somewhere around $200,000, but we were able to get him for less than $60,000.

“He was bred at Highview Stud and they are renowned for getting nice horses, so we decided to take a punt on him.

“We nursed him and he then had a preparation at home before we brought him up here where he has continued to improve.

“I’ll back off on him now and hopefully we’ll be back here in 12 months time winning the Derby.”

April’s Knight is owned by Paul Hickman who has gradually been updating his stock in Singapore.

“He has raced a number of horses up here with me but some of them are now starting to get a bit old,” said Gray.

“Paul has been gradually updating his team, but being an Englishman he likes stayers and they generally take a bit more time.”

For Duric the victory brought to an end a frustrating run that eventually led to his 100^th victory.

“I didn’t think I would ride 100 winners so quickly,” said Duric. “I’m rapt to have done it in a year and three months.

“But it has been a bit frustrating the last few weeks. While I’ve had a few winners, I thought I may have got there a bit quicker.

“I thought along the way I had some really good rides, but I just kept getting touched out.

“Its good to get the milestone out of the way and now I can concentrate on riding more winners for the owners and trainers that have supported me since I’ve been here.”

Duric had April’s Knight well positioned throughout the 1400m contest, tracking the speed set by Bold Rob and Jeremy.

After initially being outsprinted early in the straight, April’s Knight knuckled down over the final 200m to get up and score in the final few bounds.