By Michael Lee, Singapore Turf Club
Despite the ordinary runs at their last starts, trainer Cliff Brown’s trio of horses – Ararat Lady, Lonhro Gold and Bluestone are ready and all set to make their presence felt in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1000m on Saturday.
After beating one home in the Class 2 race over 1100m won by Altair at her last start, Ararat Lady, a five-year-old daughter by Battle Paint, is back down to her winning class and trip two starts back. The classy mare has recorded two seconds and one win at all her three starts in Class 3 races this year.
Promising four-year-old Bluestone did not fare too well either at his last run in the Group 2 Singapore Classic Stakes, the second leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old-Challenge series (technically the first leg this year since the Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic) over 1400m. The son of Hallowed Crown raced wide from barrier 10 and plodded home to finish ninth behind star stablemate Inferno.
However, Brown attributed those below-par performances to a few factors and is fairly upbeat about their upcoming starts.
“(Ararat Lady’s last run was) not at all disappointing. She missed the start, bumped into other horses and overraced, but she pulled up really well,” said the Australian conditioner, who bagged his second Group 1 Singapore Guineas (first was Debt Collector in 2016) with Inferno and jockey Vlad Duric last Saturday.
“She’s good now. She will be ridden by Simon Kok (Wei Hoong).
“For Bluestone, there were no plans for him to run in the Guineas because he was too keen (in the Classic Stakes).
“He wouldn’t get the mile. So, we brought him back over the 1000m.
“All three horses are in good order.”
Ararat Lady, who carries the top weight of 57kg will have two kilos shaved off with reigning Singapore champion apprentice jockey and first-time partner Kok aboard, while Bluestone, who ran third in a trial to Samurai Express on September 17, will see Singaporean jockey Joseph See take the reins for the first time.
Brown has another consistent sort in Lonhro Gold, a five-time winner over the 1000m on Polytrack, of which one is in Class 3 in October last year. He will again be partnered by South African lightweight jockey Juan Paul van der Merwe, who rode him to a seventh place, about three-and-a-half lengths behind Arc Triumph the last time in a similar race.
The six-year-old son of Denman was given a short break after that last run in August. He ran on for second to the Lee Freedman-trained Circuit Mission in a barrier trial last Tuesday.
“He’s a sharp 1000m horse. I was very pleased with his trial,” said Brown.
Among his six other runners spread over the 11 races this Saturday, debut winner Boomba will be bidding for back-to-back wins in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1200m after a brilliant all-the-way debut victory in a Restricted Maiden race over the same distance and track on September 5.
Newcomer Battlestar will step out for the first time in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200m and he will be ridden by Joseph See. The three-year-old gelding by Hinchinbrook is raced by Singaporean owner Jayven See of the Middle Kingdom Stable.
“Boomba had a gallop this morning with my track rider up, and he worked well. It would be lovely if he gets an inside gate again,” said Brown of the three-year-old owned by Glenn Whittenbury of the Barree Stable, owner of both Inferno and Debt Collector.
“(Battlestar) has had three trials so far and they were okay. He is the first horse sent to me by Jayven.
“He will gain experience from this first race and we’ll learn more about him.”
Meanwhile, entries for the $400,000 Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) were released on Tuesday morning, but fans would be disappointed not to see smashing Singapore Guineas winner Inferno’s name up there together with five other runners of Brown’s.
They are namely, in order of ratings, last-year’s Singapore Gold Cup runner-up Gold Strike (80), Trumpy (83), Threeandfourpence (79), surprising Singapore Derby runner-up Elite Incredible and Pax Animi (both at 77).
“After discussing with Glenn, our concerns were that two weeks in between races is too short, so he won’t go for Raffles Cup,” said Brown.
Out-and-out stayer Gold Strike may have run last to Grand Koonta in a Class 1 race over 1200m last Saturday, but Brown was not overly concerned.
“Gold Strike is in good shape after his first-up run,” he said.
“He is peaking towards the Gold Cup this year, and he will look to run in all three Legs.”
19 runners fill the list for the first leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series, with Countofmontecristo topping the field on 115 points. The handicaps for the final field will be released next Monday as the race will be run on October 10, followed by the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) on October 31, and culminating with the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) on November 21.
