By Larry Foley
Luxury Brand may not have opened his winning account but the Bax Racing Stable-owned three-year-old can get on the board in Sunday’s $75,000 Restricted Maiden over 1200m on the turf.
Although up against some promising newcomers that include the smart Petrograd for trainer Michael Clements, Luxury Brand’s trainer, Donna Logan, is confident of a good run from a horse she has plenty of time for.
“He (Luxury Brand) showed plenty of ability before he even had a start,” said Logan on Thursday.
“And he took that to the races where he just missed out on debut (behind stablemate Fadaboy) and found one better again (to Cash Cove) at his second start.
“He did it on both surfaces too, which is handy going forward at Kranji.
“So while he hasn’t won, he’s shown he’s a good horse and not bad picking up so much prizemoney (just over $28,000) without winning.”
It was that prizemoney that had Logan on the phone to long-time friend, client and syndicator – Kylie Bax – to race a horse or two in Singapore.
“I trained horses for Kylie back in New Zealand – Dance Dance Dance was our best – and we’ve always had a good association,” explained the only female trainer in Singapore.
“So I called her and said ‘you’re a syndicator, syndicate a horse to Singapore, the money is great’ and she (Bax) said ‘God, you’re right’ and now we have Luxury Brand in the stable.”
Bax could not have been happier with the call and the decision to race in Singapore.
“I’ve been following Singapore racing for years but never thought of syndicating one there until Donna called,” said Bax from her home in New Zealand.
“I bred Better Than Ever (Singapore champion miler in 2010 and 2011) and was great friends with (the late) Laurie Laxon who trained him, so I had more than a keen interest in Singapore racing.
“So when Donna planted the seed of racing one in Singapore – she was always telling me how wonderful it is – I pinched one (Luxury Brand) off Dad’s (Graham Bax of Blandford Lodge fame) farm and the rest is history.”
The multi-talented Bax – an ex-supermodel who also has eight film credits to her name – also has plans to send another horse to Logan in the very near future.
“We are currently syndicating a two-year-old Merchant Navy gelding to send up to Donna – he’s in pre-training in New Zealand – and with the good group of owners we already have in Luxury Brand, we are really looking forward to getting up there en masse to watch them race live.
“So far it’s been great; Donna is a tremendous horsewoman and also a great communicator, which is so important with owners from New Zealand and Australia. Hopefully, we can get off the mark on Sunday.”
A few handy newcomers stands in Luxury Brand’s way in this strong Restricted Maiden field, but Logan thinks race experience is on her runner’s side.
“Look, Petrograd looks a nice type from the trials and with (jockey) Vlad (Duric) riding, he looks the one to beat,” explained Logan who is currently tied with Tim Fitzsimmons on the trainers’ premiership (43 winners each), but sits on top with more seconds.
“And Tim’s (Fitzsimmons) horse (Typhoon) had plenty of trials so he is very well prepared for his debut and you have to respect that.
“While we have drawn wide (barrier nine), he’s (Luxury Brand) got natural speed and two kgs off his back (courtesy of apprentice jockey Yusoff Fadzli’s claim) helps.
“His race experience is also a big advantage and he deserves a win given what he has done so far.”
Apart from Luxury Brand, Logan will send out another eight horses on Sunday and thinks she has good chances with at least three of them.
“Vlad staying with Eastiger ($30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1200m on turf) gives me confidence and he won well enough last start (August 7) to step up against a better field,” she said.
“Rocky ($20,000 Maiden race over 1100m on the Polytrack) ran second to a good one (Pacific Star) last start with blinkers. He should get a cruisy run for (jockey) Jake (Bayliss) and be a leading player in this field.
“And Flashfast ($50,000 Class 4 race over 1400m on the turf) is up against older company but his run in the (Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old) Classic was good and his recent trial (Heat. no 3 on August 18) was pleasing, so he should run well with Jake too.”
