Aramani another top label for Aramco Stable
Former Australian Group 3 winner Charge (Zoustar) finally got on the board at his third start at Kranji yesterday.
Renamed as Aramani, the five-year-old finally reproduced his Sydney/Melbourne form with an all-the-way win in the $70,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1200m.
Showing his customary early gate speed – at his first two Kranji runs, he led but overraced and petered out to run eighth on both occasions – Aramani was never in doubt this time.
A touch of keenness was still noticeable, but Maia was able to curb his enthusiasm quite well. When they turned for the judge, it was obvious no petrol had been spent unnecessarily, and he would not be caught this time.
Favourite Master Ryker (Sebring), Legend Of The Sun (Not A Single Doubt) and Watch Out Boss (Bullet Train), who were the trio who stayed in touch with Aramani’s relentless gallop throughout, tried to whittle down the margin, but the former Chris Waller galloper never wilted.
Aramani scored by a length and three-quarters from Watch Out Boss, with Legend Of The Sun in third place, another two and three-quarter lengths away. The winning time was 1min 9.63secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Winning trainer Shane Baertschiger said he had always seen that raw ability in his new charge, but because he was such a hothead on the training tracks, it had never really got a chance to be showcased.
“He’s a very difficult horse to train. In Australia, he won two races but he also had 14 gear changes,” said the Australian trainer.
“He’s uncontrollable in trackwork, he’s a mad bolter. Matthew Kellady is the only one who can ride him whether it’s slow work or fast work.
“Today, he pulled a little again, but I told Maia not to fight him, just let him stride, and it’s paid off. I think he also liked the give in the track.
“We’ll see how it goes, but I may run him in the Lion City Cup.”
Singapore champion trainer Mark Walker quinellaed the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1100 metres with Altair (Zoustar) and Sacred Rebel (Sepoy) finishing in that order yesterday.
Both runners were well backed, but it was Altair, the $16 top pick, who proved a touch stronger on the day, jumping straight onto the bunny before fending off the close attention of Ararat Lady (Battle Paint) and pulling clear in the home straight.
Sacred Rebel, the mount of Hakim Kamaruddin, took a while to go through his gears two lengths in arrears but once he darted through a gap between Siam Warrior and Hugo, he closed in steadily to a length and a half of his stablemate.
In clocking a sizzling 1min 3.76secs, Altair lowered Autumn Assault’s (Rock ‘n’ Pop) 1100m record by 0.21 second while the win was ringing up a five-timer for Ruan Maia, three weeks after his famous seven-timer.
The Brazilian jockey’s earlier winners were Moon Face (Zen Sational), Blue Blood (Alamosa), Aramani and Retallica (Magnus). With leading jockey Vlad Duric serving a two-week suspension, Maia has now hit 37 winners, and closed down the gap to 11 winners.
Walker said Altair had taken a little longer to hit his straps this prep while Sacred Rebel ran his usual honest race.
“It’s taken a while for Altair to come up this prep. We put a set of visors on for the first time, and it seems to have sharpened him up.
“Sacred Rebel ran a nice race. He is holding his form.”
In the next race, the $100,000 Class 1 race over 1600metres, Walker was saddling top miler Countofmontecristo (Echoes Of Heaven) for the first time, but it was Mr Malek (Swiss Ace) who upstaged him with a blistering turn of foot. Joe Singh’s galloper, who gave weight all around, even lost second place to stablemate Yulong Edition (Makfi) by a short head.
“The winner (Mr Malek) is pretty good and you must not forget he had only 50 kilograms and Yulong Edition had only 47 kilograms,” said the Kiwi handler.
“I thought it was still a gallant effort from Countofmontecristo. He ran very well.
“It was a good lead-up run towards the Raffles Cup and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.”