Sun Ops shrugs off trip worries with sizzling win
Trainer Desmond Koh’s pre-race reservations about Sun Ops (I Am Invincible) lasting the 1100m trip of Sunday’s S$70,000 Class 3 race proved to be much ado about nothing after all.
In the lead-up to the speed scamper, the typically conservative Singaporean handler had voiced out his concerns that his noted speedster might struggle over the 100m added onto his debut winning distance of 1000m.
Granted his Australian record of two 900m wins (when known as Covert Ops) tends to back Koh up, but the four-year-old simply defied those stats with a win which was, if anything, even more dynamic.
Bustled up from his barrier two by first-time partner Oscar Chavez, the S$12 second-favourite swiftly found the fence, but soon, had to absorb unrelenting pressure coming from even-money favourite Tuesday (Deep Field) and Ararat Lady (Battle Paint) for most of the back straight, while Super Invincible (I Am Invincible) was poised right behind the sizzling speed, ready to pounce.
At the top of the straight, the field fanned out with Sun Ops still in command, but as he rolled out looking a touch wobbly, many thought he might be left a sitting duck given they did not loaf around from the get-go.
At that point, Koh must have thought the pessimistic scenario he had painted would go to script – the weary-legged speedball would fall into a heap inside the last 100m, if not before.
It is a good thing horses do not read the press – or their trainer’s minds! The moment Chavez clicked Sun Ops up for another gear, he instead responded with an explosive burst, as if the turbo engine had only just been powered on.
Sun Ops stopped the clock at 1min 4.21secs, 0.54 second outside the course record held by Tuesday, who bravely tried to stay in his slipstream, but was in the end left licking his wounds, one and three-quarter lengths away in second place. Cheval Rapide (Exceed And Excel) ran third another length away.
“I guess I was a bit too cautious with Sun Ops, but I’ve learned in this game that it’s better to be a realist,” said Koh, who has been training in Singapore for 17 years after honing his craft in the US for six years.
“We knew Tuesday had the speed to keep up with him, but my horse took the pressure very well. He didn’t fade away, if anything, he kept going away.”
Though the 1100m win adds a string to Sun Ops’ bow, Koh is adamant short sprints are more his caper at this stage of his budding career, even if he is an atypical sprinter.
“He’s only a small horse, not really built like a sprinter. He’s not all muscle, more light-framed but solid enough,” he said.
“Today’s win gives us more room to move him around, maybe even up to 1200m, but if he’s got no room, meaning to say there are no such races on the programme, we will stick to what I think he’s still best at – 1000m to 1100m.
“Mr Cheng (Ting Kong of Sun Bloodstock Stable) was very happy with the win. I think Sun Ops is one of the best horses he’s sent me.
“I’m very grateful for his support, not just for Sun Ops but for all the other horses he has given me to train.”
Luckily, Sun Ops flew the lids on his way to a sterling win that takes him to just above S$64,000 in stakes earnings at Kranji, only around S$30,000 shy of the stakes he made in Australia from his two wins and three placings under trainer Gerald Ryan.
Exciting prospect Lim’s Kosciuszko makes it two from two
Trainer Daniel Meagher seems to have found himself a smart type after Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec) accounted for a smart Novice field with a touch of contempt yesterday.
Raced again over 1200m, the distance of his debut win in a Restricted Maiden race on March 20, the three-year-old was even more impressive in the way he dispatched his 13 rivals in the S$75,000 event.
It might be too early to throw in the epithet ‘bombproof’ after only two starts into a fledgling racing career, but the way Lim’s Kosciuszko used his cruising speed to assert his spot in the driving seat before skipping clear on cue lends to the make-up of a horse going places.
Noted for his patience, Meagher would not get ahead of himself, but one could not help pick up a sense of awe in his gaze as he watched Lim’s Kosciuszko return to scales from such an exciting win.
“He’s a very easy horse to train, very professional,” came the Australian’s first words of appraisal.
“Mind you, he’s not 100% yet, and it’s natural improvement that we saw today. The more racing, the better it is.
“He’s the right horse to have here. He puts himself in the right place, and he’s so easy to ride.
“His last trial (April 8) was extremely good. (Debut winning partner) Danny (Beasley) said when another horse came up, he just wanted to run, he’s a real racehorse.
“He’s not very big, but he’s very well put together. He reminds me of Lim’s Samurai except that he’s a lot smaller.
“Credit to (Lim’s Stable racing manager) Mick Dittman who picked him up. When he spotted him, he knew he had to get him.”
Meagher said he had not quite given much thought to the next move for his promising sprinter, but the three-year-old races would have to come under the radar.
“I haven’t really looked ahead, but I suppose I could look at the 3YO races for him,” he said.
This year, the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge is reduced to only the Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (Gr 3, 1200m) on June 27 and the Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (Gr 2, 1400m) on July 18, while the Singapore Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) has been left out.
From his two wins for the Lim’s Stable, Lim’s Kosciuszko has already built up in excess of S$80,000 in stakes earnings in the bank account.
Backed down to $9 favouritism, Lim’s Kosciuszko defeated the vastly-improved Stenmark (Medaglia D’Oro) by two lengths with the debuting Aftermath (Spirit Of Boom) in third place another length and a quarter away. Both placegetters are prepared by Mark Walker and raced by the Te Akau Racing Stable.
Who Loves Bae does a ‘Bill Daley’ for Koh
A step-up to the mile turned out to be the key to the Desmond Koh-trained Who Loves Bae (Deep Field) unlocking his real potential yesterday.
Runner-up on debut in a six-furlong event, the four-year-old went backwards at his next two starts in 1100m and 1400m races, both at Maiden level.
But the stars were finally aligned with the Polytrack mile of the S$20,000 Open Maiden race over combined with a handy barrier (two) and a gun forward ride by Noh Senari.
Able to dictate terms from the outset, Who Loves Bae looked to have most of his eleven rivals gasping for breath upon straightening, except for favourite Al Meqdam (Exceed And Excel) who was the only one to jump out of the pack with a sense of purpose.
Alarmingly, Who Loves Bae was also running on fumes, but the winning post arrived in time to save him from another day to break that maiden status.
Half-a-length separated him from Al Meqdam with Seven Sundae (Shamus Award) in third spot another length and a half away.
Who Loves Bae returned a win payout of S$38 and clocked 1min 39.89secs for the 1600m on the alternative track.
A stakes winner of AU$23.670 from his promising record of four placings from as many starts for trainer Philip Stokes in Victoria, Australia, when known as Bayvista, Who Loves Bae has now picked up just a tick under S$15,000 in stakes earnings for his new Singaporean connections, the Who Loves You Stable.
Shafizal’s turf idea on Paletas is the good oil
Shafrizal Saleh might not be the Kranji jockey with the most experience and winners under the belt, but he proved on Sunday he certainly has acquired a racing brain if his spot-on recommendation to switch Paletas (Iffraaj) to turf is anything to go by.
The 33-year-old Malaysian jockey was the one who suggested to the Michael Clements yard that the four-year-old runs over grass in the S$70,000 Class 3 race over 1200m.
It was a bold gamble. Not only it was a step-up in class, but Paletas was coming off a purple patch of two last-gasp wins on Polytrack at his last two starts in Class 4 company.
Why fix if ain’t broke, some may ask, but Clements and assistant-trainer Michael ‘Chopsy’ White took the plunge by heeding their former apprentice jockey’s judgement, and good on them!
They reaped instant dividends with the Appointed Whale Stable-owned gelding reproducing the same dashing form to rack up a fantastic three-in-a-row at a third leg that was deemed an even bigger ask.
Smothered up in midfield, Paletas enjoyed more or less the same fuel-saving conditions that led to his previous two wins, but reeling in the likes of Siam Warrior (Exceed And Excel), Be Bee (Showcasing) and Magic Wand (Star Witness) could not be the same kettle of fish.
But the postage-stamp load of 50.5kgs must have been a major contribution in the way he still powered home with the same electric turn of foot once he found clear air on the outside.
Race-leader Siam Warrior gave his best in foiling the joint assaults from Be Bee and Magic Wand, but they were all left watching powerlessly when Paletas came thundering past them on the outside.
Magic Wand took a creditable second place one length astern with Siam Warrior boxing on for third place another half-length away. The winning time was 1min 9.36secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
“Shafrizal rides this horse perfectly, he knows him very well and rides him with a lot of patience. I know it may sound like a cliché but that win today can only help put him on the map,” said White.
“We know this horse could definitely do it even if he was up in class, but because of his bad feet, he can go the other way. He’s here today, he can be gone tomorrow.
“Full credit to the farrier for having got his feet right. We always knew he was a horse with a bit of ability, but he’s a half-brother to horses like Blitz Power and Harry Dream, who also have endless problems with their feet.”
Paletas has now chalked up four wins from eight starts for prizemoney in excess of S$130,000 for connections.