Entertainer battles well to victory
A well-crafted strategy from leading trainer Mark Walker saw Entertainer (Zoustar) upstage some of the best sprinters at a higher echelon with a hard-fought win on Saturday.
The speedy Zoustar (Northern Meteor) five-year-old was a little overlooked in the market at $55, no doubt largely due to his last-start weakening unplaced run in a Class 3 race over 1200 metres, and still showing the pluck to tackle even better horses in the day’s highlight, the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1100 metres on the Polytrack.
Factor in the serious competition in the speed department from the likes of Celavi (Fighting Sun) and Fame Star (Twirling Candy), and it would take a hardcore fan or brave man to believe in his chances.
But Walker had been working out that if his charge steered clear of any speed duel, and just clapped with the front division without busting a gut, the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable might be in for another entertaining lap for a sixth time.
“There was a lot of the speed in the race, including us. I just thought Hakim (Kamaruddin) doesn’t have to lead on him,” said the Kiwi master trainer.
“This horse likes to be on the outside, and Hakim gave him a gun ride. At the 100 metre, I thought he was beat, but he digs deep. When he saw the other horse, he found another gear.”
Muraahib (Reset), who was also in the slipstream of the leading bunch made up of Fame Star, Entertainer with odds-on favourite Celavi in close attendance one out one back, proved to be the biggest threat to Entertainer inside the last half-furlong when he came savaging the line along the rails.
For a fleeting second, the momentum seemed to be swinging the way of the former Lee Freedman-trained three-time winner, but Entertainer was able to scrape home by a short head to record his sixth win and take his stakes earnings closer to the $200,000 mark.
Entertainer’s stablemate Sacred Gift (Zoustar) flew home for third place another length away. The winning time was 1min 4.21secs for the 1100 metres on the Polytrack.
“I think the 1100 metres is just his favourite distance. The 1200 metres was a bit too far last time,” said Walker. “He was also pressured by another horse (Universal Empire), which explained why he faded in the end.
“He’s been a wonderful horse this season. Mentally and physically, he wasn’t quite there, but John Galvin (Fortuna NZ Racing’s principal) us very patient, he never puts any pressure on me and lets me do what I want.
“They have done very well today with Brutus winning earlier ($50,000 Class 4 race over 1200m), and Hadeer also ran very well (see earlier report), he just found one better (Starlight).
“The horse has just got stronger, and he’s a much better horse. I’ll probably spell him for next year.”
Starlight shows his class
Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (Listed, 1400m) winner Starlight (Headwater) bounced back to winning ways in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1200 metres on Saturday.
Touted as something out of the box right off his smashing wins at his beginnings, the son of Headwater (Exceed And Excel) lived up to the tag with a gutsy win at the expense of his better-fancied stablemate Tiger Roar (Wandjina) in the Group 2 race over 1400 metres, which used to be the second Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.
With the traditional last Leg, the Singapore Guineas (Listed, 1600m), scrapped this year, trainer Michael Clements set Starlight for the mock-up race instead, a Kranji Stakes C race over the same mile trip, but it then dawned on the camp Starlight was not quite ready for the longer trips.
After a closing second when brought back in trip to 1200 metres in a Class 3 event on September 25, Starlight hit the jackpot at his second try in a similar contest on Saturday.
Favourite Hadeer (Savabeel) ran out of his skin in his bold bid for a four-in-a-row, but Louis-Philippe Beuzelin was at his vigorous best when he brought Starlight ($18) with a well-timed run down the middle of the track to get his neck in front where it mattered.
The French jockey originally sweated on a gap between Songgong Hera (Spirit Of Boom) and Kiss Your Song (Your Song) for the shortest way home, but eventually opted for the outside run when the opening didn’t materialise with neither horse rolling in or out.
Bold frontrunner Ablest Ascend (Charm Spirit) tried to nick the race from his favourite tactics, but despite steadying up the ship with soft splits, he capitulated at the 300-metre mark, but still took a laudable third place another two lengths away. The winning time was 1min 9.62secs for the 1200 metres on the Long Course.
The return to the winner’s circle vindicated Clements’ decision to restrict Starlight to short journeys, but the Singapore champion trainer qualified it was only for the interim.
“He is better suited to sprints, but I still believe that with time, he can go up to a mile,” said the Zimbabwean-born conditioner.
“He settles nicely now like he showed today, albeit the pace was strong. He was pretty relaxed when Louis got him in behind horses.
“I thought Louis switched him out a little late in the straight, but the horse was too good, and got there in time. There is a Class 3 1400-metre race for him in two weeks’ time.”
With that fourth win in nine starts along with three seconds, Starlight is now the prize-money earner of more than $230,000 for the PSM Racing Stable.
On Line edges closer to Singapore Gold Cup start
After Trumpy (Lizard Island) scored last week to inch closer to a Singapore Gold Cup (Listed, 2000m) start, stablemate On Line (O’Reilly) followed suit with a similar feat on Saturday.
Around 20th in the order of entry on 70 points before the running of the $70,000 Class 3 race over the Polytrack mile, On Line was just like Trumpy in need of a win to still be in with a chance.
The O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) six-year-old pulled it off but only by the skin of his teeth. Last for most of the way, he only got a wriggle-on from the circle, but still had it all to do with Pennywise (Pure Prize) going hand over fist upfront.
Favourite Special Ops (Reset) took a while to wind up but looked home when he darted to the rails while On Line just kept whacking away down the middle of the track.
At the wire, the trio of horses finished locked together with the photo print giving the nod to On Line by a head from Special Ops, who just nutted Pennywise out by a nose for third place. The winning time was 1min 38.91secs for the 1600 metres on the all-weather.
While On Line may still be one of the fringe runners for the blue riband on November 14 in spite of the ratings hike following Saturday’s success, Clements was in two minds about his participation regardless of which way the handicapper’s knife slices and dices.
“On that win, he should be thereabouts, around the cut-off mark, or just below. He may get in if a horse or two drop out,” said Clements.
“If he runs on like this, it would be tempting to run him (in the Singapore Gold Cup) with a low weight (50kgs), but the thing is we tried him in Group company before and he hasn’t quite measured up.
“Initially, we thought he could be a Group horse over a distance, but he seems to be more in his element in this class (3). So, at this stage, I’d say he’s an unlikely starter, but you never know.
“Today was the right trip for him, he’s been looking for such a race for a while. We had him in a couple of sprints before that, he ran in a 1400m race at his last start and was running on.
“He had two seconds on the Polytrack over this distance before, and Oscar rode him well. He left him alone at the back and they were very strong to the line.
“I wasn’t sure about the inside, but from where I watched the race, the angle usually favours the outside horses.”
After leading for the best part of the first two thirds of the season, the Singapore champion trainer has gradually trailed off current leader Mark Walker following a lean spell in the last couple of months, but can look forward to ending with a flourish in the last big race of the season.
He currently has around seven horses in the running for the Singapore Gold Cup, namely defending champion Big Hearted (Hallowed Crown), Top Knight (Zoustar), Ocean Crossing (All Too Hard), So Hi Class (Dark Angel), Elite Incredible (Valid Stripes), Prosperous Return (Fighting Sun) and Trumpy, and possibly On Line now.
A trainer can have runners that fill up to 50 per cent of a race field. Unless there are late scratchings, the Singapore Gold Cup usually accommodates its capacity field of 16 horses.
With Walker having won one race earlier with Brutus (Rubick), the eight-winner gap between the two arch-rivals remains – 62 winners for Walker versus 54 for Clements.
Whether On Line takes a stab at the $1 million prize-money up for grabs in the Singapore Gold Cup or not, he has already proven to be a handy money spinner for Thai champion owner Falcon Racing No 7 Stable with more than $300,000 earned from his record of five wins and nine placings from 26 starts.
At odds of $52, On Line stretched the miserable day for favourite backers on Saturday, with outsiders having ruled the roost from Race 1, including three at three-figure odds namely Sayonara (Shocking), The Wild Prince (Rip Van Winkle) with the biggest boilover coming from Fate To Win (Primus).
It was only in the next race after On Line that a first elect finally bucked the trend, with $11 favourite Arion Passion (El Roca) narrowly claiming the $30,000 Class 5 race over 1000 metres.
Gutsy win from Gray’s Al Green
Stephen Gray might have felt a little downcast after his exciting Australian horse Oxley Road (Exceed And Excel) didn’t win in Flemington, but a gutsy win from his old marvel Al Green (Exchange Rate) at Kranji did go some way in erasing the disappointment.
Sent out as the favourite in the Linlithgow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) up the Flemington straight on Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) day, Oxley Road hit the front early, but looked all at sea as he wobbled around into horses before getting swamped to beat one home, but only one and a half lengths off the shock winner, rank outsider Justacanta (Per Incanto).
Down but not out, as around one and a half hours later, Gray, who owns a share in Oxley Road (the famous Singapore road he is named after the obvious giveaway of his strong Singapore connections), was cheering Al Green home in a driving finish to the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 1000 metres.
No doubt a Class 4 event is not in the same league as the Linlithgow, an annual race held during the Spring Carnival and worth six times more with its purse of A$300,000, but Gray was in a great mood at the winner’s circle.
Perhaps good news coming after bad news helps bring out some buoyancy. The Kiwi even found a silver lining to Oxley Road’s defeat.
“Al Green has now more than $400,000 for Paul (Hickman). I hope he buys some new horses because I’m running out!” said Gray.
“I said to Marc before the race he may find the 1000m a bit short now he’s older, he said don’t worry, he loves the 1000m, he’s good and quick.
“When he found a gap, he went right through. It’s not easy for an old horse to still be winning in Class 4.
“I don’t know what we do with him now if he gets promoted, but we’ll just enjoy the win. He’s getting older and has his little wear and tear issues, but we’ve looked after him, and he’s been a great horse to us.
“As for Oxley Road, he was left all by himself, he ran to the horses. He should have crossed over and rolled to the inside instead of being stuck out there.
“He didn’t go too bad as that was only his second run at Flemington. That’s okay, he’s a lovely fast horse and is going for a break and looks exciting for next year in the autumn.
“He’s got it all ahead of him, he’s still learning, and that’s all part and parcel of racing.”
A veteran of 54 races across six seasons, Al Green may not be the winningest horse around but the Argentinian-bred nine-year-old son of Exchange Rate (Danzig) boasts a healthy record of six wins and 15 placings for stakes earnings in excess of $400,000 for the St George Stable.
Favourite Qaidoom (Noble Mission) had every chance after eye-balling Lonhro Gold (Denman) at the top of the queue. Al Green ($49) who had charted his path right behind the speed in fifth spot was starting to rally at the 250 metres, but try as Qaidoom might, she just got outbobbed by her much older rival (six years apart) by a short head.
Arion Success (Real Saga) ran third another half-length away. The winning time was 58.81secs for the 1000 metres on the Polytrack.
From Gray’s 26 winners this year, Al Green was sealing an 11th win in combination with Lerner this year, two of them coming at the highest level with Hard Too Think (All Too Hard) in the Singapore Derby (Gr 1, 1800m) and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Gr 1, 1800m) – and a third all set to play out with the same All Too Hard (Casino Prince) five-year-old in two weeks’ time, the Singapore Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2000m).
Lerner, who is borderline for lightweight rides, had to sweat on the Gold Cup weights to know if he would ride Hard Too Think, but Gray had good tidings for the French man.
“Marc rode Al Green a treat today, but I’m also glad to let you know he’s going to ride Hard Too Think in the Gold Cup,” said Gray.
“The top weight will be 58 kilograms which means he will get 52.5 kilograms. Marc told me he will get down to that weight, it’s all very exciting for him.”
Hakim suspended and fine $4,000
App K Hakim, the rider of Quarter Back (Empire Maker), in the presence of his Master B Trainer, Mr S Jasuli, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding under MRA Rule 44(9)(a)(ii) in that approaching the 300-metre mark, he did direct his mount outwards, when insufficiently clear of Be Bee (Showcasing), which was checked and carried wider.
When deciding on penalty, the Stewards took into account his record, guilty plea and the degree of interference and carelessness. App Hakim was suspended from riding in races with effect that started Sunday, 31 October 2021 to Saturday, 06 November 2021 both dates inclusive (one Singapore Race Day).
In addition, he was fined a sum of $4,000. He was advised of his Right of Appeal.