Entertainer back in the spotlight
Polytrack specialist Entertainer (Zoustar) has not taken long to get back into the spotlight. A weakening seventh at his debut for trainer Donna Logan in a Class 3 event over his pet trip of 1100m (all previous six wins over that distance when then trained by Mark Walker) three weeks ago, the five-year-old was attempting to restore some gloss in yesterday’s S$85,000 Class 2 race, again over 1100m, but up in grade.
Entertainer was indeed in for some serious challenge from quality mares Celavi (Fighting Sun) and Ararat Lady (Battle Paint), and even equally fleet-footed stablemate Makkem Lad (Kuroshio), but with only 50kgs on his back, the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable-owned galloper was the one who came up trumps.
First-time partner A’Isisuhairi Kasim utilised Entertainer’s natural speed to latch onto the even quicker Makkem Lad for the bulk of the race before turning it up at the corner.
The two Logans’ levelled off briefly, but Entertainer quickly put Makkem Lad in the shade while Ararat Lady was lurking out wide, but not the more fancied mare Celavi, who, for an all-weather lover, was looking rather plain despite a charmed run on the rails.
Under A’Isisuhairi’s urgings, Entertainer (S$66) kept pulling plenty while Ararat Lady’s run seemed to be coming to an end. Three parts of a length split them at the post with Darc Bounty (Darci Brahma) third another half-length away.
The winning time was 1min 4.39secs for the Polytrack 1100m and Entertainer has now taken his record to seven wins and two thirds from 15 starts for prize-money that has gone past the S$235,000 mark for Fortuna NZ Racing Stable.
‘Mission impossible’ if not for Peters’ resilient duo
English trainer James Peters was grateful to the people who have rallied round his severely short-handed stable after Circuit Mission (High Chaparral) scored a resounding win in the S$70,000 Class 3 race over 1400m.
Peters revealed that his stable operations took a hit in recent weeks when six of his men became COVID-19 positive. Only Zairi Othman and Ansar were negative.
While his stable of 22 horses is not the biggest around Kranji, a reduced staff strength still throws a major spanner in the works, especially during morning trackwork when the pace is always frantic.
The chain reaction of having fewer hands on deck may ultimately lead to horses getting scratched if they do not attain the desired fitness level due to the cut back workload, but luckily, Zairi and Ansar have pulled double, even triple duty, and senior jockeys have also thrown in a helping hand, especially A’Isisuhairi Kasim, Circuit Mission’s winning jockey.
A winner of three-in-a-row (all recorded from the front) for Lee Freedman three seasons back, Circuit Mission was saluting for Peters for the first time after five starts.
After cutting across from a wide gate to sit outside Mini Force X (Dundeel) in fourth place, the seven-year-old then improved to a trailing spot in third as the field got strung out by the earnest pace set by leader Ironchamp (Glass Harmonium) and red-hot favourite Red Ocean (Ocean Park).
Upon straightening, those who have plonked their hard-earned onto Red Ocean could already sense they were about to have the same wretched day as the majority of favourite backers all day.
Red Ocean was given the office, but Shane Baertschiger’s Singapore Derby (dGr 1, 1800m) prospect just could not pass Ironchamp while A’Isisuhairi, who had still not opened his 2022 account before that race, had not flexed a muscle two lengths astern.
The moment he did, Circuit Mission (S$63) shot past, opened up and kept finding inside the last furlong to eventually fall in by half-a-length from the fast-finishing outsider Tangible (Trippi) who just snatched the runner-up spot from Strong N Best (Rock ‘N’ Pop) by a nose.
The winning time was 1min 21.44secs for the 1400m on the Long Course. In 20 starts, Circuit Mission has now taken home in excess of S$185,000 in stakes money for Hong Kong owner Ngo Tai Tak, who also raced 2018 Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy winner Circuit Land (Mizzen Mast) with Freedman.
Karisto scores second win two years later
China Horse Club galloper Karisto ( Written Tycoon) bounced back to the winner’s circle with a last-stride win in the S$50,000 Class 4 race over 1200m.
The seven-year-old was not too long ago regarded as one of Kranji’s upwardly mobile sorts when prepared by ex-Kranji trainer Lee Freedman, especially in the wake of his gun second to fellow CHC mainstay Grand Koonta (Dark Angel) in a Class 1 event in September 2020.
However, that was to be an anticlimactic end to his dynamic progression.
In 12 subsequent starts, Karisto finished on board only once, with his ratings plummeting from 82 to 65, a change in handling to trainer Michael Clements not helping much in rekindling any spark back.
There has been no real hint the tide had turned of late, other than a few closer finishes, but the Karisto of old finally stepped up to the plate yesterday.
Hugging the rails for Louis-Philippe Beuzelin in midfield, the chestnut was strung up in traffic behind a wall of horses at the top of the lane. When clear air popped up on the outside of War Pride (Tavistock) at the 300m, he quickly traversed through to settle down for a good go with favourite Brutus (Rubick), before crossing the line locked together.
The judge’s photo gave the nod to Karisto by a short head with War Pride third another half-length away, just holding Harry Dream (Pins) off by a head. The winning time was 1min 9.64secs for the Long Course.
The return to form – and the winner’s circle in almost two years since his only Kranji win on January 10, 2020 – did not happen overnight, but Clements said the engine had only been in sleeping mode, just needing to be dropped back to the right class to be switched back on.
With that second win from 28 starts that also produced eight placings, Karisto (S$75) has now hit around the S$185,000 mark for the China Horse Club.
Boosted by that early win, the Clements-Beuzelin-CHC trio were smacking their lips for a two-from-two with the better-backed Resolution (Toronado) three races later in the S$50,000 Class 4 race over 1100m, but the five-year-old never flattered despite an ideal spot in transit, to beat one home.
Jockey A’Isisuhairi Kasim competed a treble on the card with Sayonara (Shocking) (S$26) in the $30,000 Class 5 race over 1800m, while the unsupported Doc Hudson (Commands) ($124), who took the shortest way home along the rails, handed Malaysian jockey Mark Ewe his first 2022 win.