Kharisma shows his winning appeal again
Smart sprinter Kharisma (Mossman) once again proved to be hard to beat when things go his way with a gutsy win in yesterday’s Kranji Stakes A race over 1200 metres.
The Stephen Gray camp were left a little deflated after their rising star failed to muster in the Merlion Trophy (Listed, 1200m) in November, but from the better gate in three this time, the Indonesian-owned gelding trucked up behind leader Lim’s Dream (Duporth) under Marc Lerner before going on to win by a brave neck. Grand Koonta (Dark Angel) finished a meritorious third place, another three lengths away.
Clocking 1min 9.9secs for the 1200 metres on the Short Course on turf, Kharisma was ringing up win number ten at his 23rd start.
Assistant trainer Lisa O’Shea, filling in for Gray said: “At his last start, Marc said the horse jumped well, but he didn’t want him to do much from the wide gate, and eased him back.
“I think he was a bit lost when he found himself further back than usual as he’s normally handy.
“But I have to say, today, the track has been playing in favour of on-pace runners. He just keep fighting all the way.”
Lerner added: “It’s a well-deserved win. He had a good draw today and he followed the leader everywhere, and was too good. The leader put up a good fight, but Kharisma has such a will to win.
“I hope he can win a Group race one day. We’ll aim him for the Lion City Cup and I hope he can get a ticket.”
High five for unbeaten Lim’s Kosciuszko
Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec) survived a late scare to stretch his unbeaten streak to five wins when doing just enough under Danny Beasley to take out the class 3 event over 1200 metres and set himself up for his own tilt at the Lion City Cup.
“It’s hard to keep such horses going through their grades. At some stage, they will have a fight on their hands,” said winning trainer Daniel Meagher.
“He’s not the finished product yet, I can get him better. He still has some improvement in terms of his looks and fitness, and the whole aspect as a racehorse.
“He went quickly and did it on his own. Things did go straight to plan, which was, if he jumps good, to let him roll, and to take a sit if he jumps fair.
“It was also a very good ride from Danny to avoid a bit of a pressured race. He was out on his feet in the last 100, but credit to Danny, who took the bull by the horns.”
Red Ocean bounces back to best form
Shane Baertschiger is plotting a path towards the Singapore Derby (Listed, 1800m) for Red Ocean (Ocean Park) following the bold frontrunner’s quick return to winning ways in the Kranji Stakes C race over 1600 metres.
As expected, the lead was secured easily and Red Ocean went away to win by two and a quarter lengths under a hands and heels ride from Matthew Kellady.
“He runs his best races when he bowls along in front. Today, he jumped straight to the front and the race was pretty much all over midway,” said Baertschiger.
“At his last start, things just didn’t go his way, and I was confident he could bounce back today. He had the race won from a long way.
“I think he still has some improvement in him. I’ll probably give him a month off now.
“He’s my Derby horse and I’ll now get him ready for that race.”
War Commander a first for American Pharoah in Singapore
War Commander, the first progeny of American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) to race in Singapore, won on debut for good measure.
An Australian-bred out of Snitzel’s Jewel (Snitzel), War Commander franked his promising trackwork with victory under Manoel Nunes in the open maiden over 1200 maiden.
“I have to say Manoel was very confident after his trials and gallops, but I was of the opinion there was still a bit of improvement left,” said winning trainer Ricardo Le Grange
“I normally give my young horses two trials, but this guy had only one, but it was a good trial where he showed good form.
“Manoel’s done a lot of work on him and also brought a couple of things to his gear. He was more bullish than me that he was ready to go.
“I didn’t tie him down to any instructions today, but as he showed a lot of speed in his trackwork, we knew he’d be quite forward.
“It’s the first American Pharoah to come here, and it’s great he’s won, too, on debut. He’s looking for 1400 to 1600 metres, and hopefully, he carries on an upward curve here.”