While an air of suspense hung over Kranji as the judges brought the photo finish of Race 2 under a magnifying glass on Friday, Japanese horse owner Masa Otani was the only one who could afford to be cocky – either way he wins.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
The principal of the Big Valley Stable was not on hand to see the $65,000 Restricted Maiden (2&3YO) race unfold, but if he was watching the race 'live' on TV, he would have been pleased to see Pensamiento and Musketeer finish locked together at the conclusion of the 1400m event.
So tight was the riveting finish that the race caller could not stick his neck out, but Otani, made famous by his triple Singapore Gold Cup winning feat with El Dorado, could already bring out his calculator to work out his winner's and runner-up's cut.
It probably did not make much difference to him if at the 100m pole, it looked like the orders would have been reversed.
The Hideyuki Takaoka-trained Musketeer ($26), who carried Otani's first colours of blue V and sleeves, had the race seemingly all parcelled up when he hit the lead at the 300m with plenty of resolve for jockey Alan Munro, but from the back suddenly popped up his less fancied ($31) runner Pensamiento (Stephen Baster), who is prepared by his second trainer, Steven Burridge.
Unlike Musketeer who had travelled handy in second spot from the jump, Pensamiento, a gangly sort by Fusaichi Pegasus had all along been well smothered away in midfield before he was able to see daylight at the 300m.
Vigorously ridden by Baster, Pensamiento - which means 'thought' in Spanish - picked up the horses ahead of him, and with 150m to go, was left with only Musketeer to gather in. Munro was however not surrendering an inch of the wet grass on the inside, but in one last ditch, Baster managed to drive his mount right at the death to earn the verdict by the barest of margins.
As an indication of the tightness of the blanket finish, the widest runner Smart Idea (Ivaldo Santana) finished third just a neck away with the fourth-placed Dragon (Tan Wei Li) a nose away. The winning time was 1min 24.27secs.
Burridge said Pensamiento could not really be condemned for his last-start ninth (at his second run) as racing experience was still a sparing element in his charge.
“He drew 12 at his last run and was just very green and immature,” said Burridge. “You could not judge him on that run.
“We put the blinkers on him at his trial and he went really super with them. There was still a question mark how he would run on the soft track tonight, but he did well in the end.
“I think he's a horse who will get better with time and will probably be better over more ground as well.
“It's great for the owner as he finished 1-2. He bought this horse (Pensamiento) himself.”
Baster, who is showing no letting-up in his successful run at Kranji, was delighted the photo finish has swung his way.
“It's always nice to get up in a close go. I was lucky this time and I'm happy I was on the right horse for Masa,” said the Australian hoop who was aboard Pensamiento at his previous only two runs when seventh and ninth.
“It's the first time he's drawn a good gate. I think it was also a combination of the soft track and the blinkers.
“I rode him in that trial and he won very well. I was expecting a good run from him tonight.”
With that maiden win, Pensamiento, a three-year-old gelding by Fusaichi Pegasus out of the Sunday Silence dam Robin's Nest, has picked up his first cheque, which amounts to around $35,000.
Burridge went on to complete a training double when Shaolin Soldier (Alan Munro) scored a nose win from Let's See Action (Greg Cheyne) in the penultimate race, the $75,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1200m.
