The race may have been sponsored by a major Australian outfit, but it was a strong international flavour that took over the $90,000 Inglis Australian Easter Sale Stakes (1000m) with the success of Tashi on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
The two-year-old son of Johannesburg is an Argentinian-bred colt prepared by Zimbabwean-born Singaporean trainer Michael Clements and was ridden by Brazilian jockey Ivaldo Santana in the second Leg of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe series.
The Happy Life Stable was, however, not eligible for the $30,000 bonus up for grabs as Tashi was not an Australian-bred. Tashi was one of three Argentinian-bred two-year-olds along with four Australian-breds who made up the seven-horse field, becoming the first juvenile hailing from the South American continent to clinch a two-year-old feature in Singapore.
One of the best away, Tashi ($35) pounced from barrier No 1 to take up the running from Easy Money (Sam Subian) with Super Six (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) making a line of three right on the outside.
Tashi galloped on at a decent clip to cart the field as a fairly bunched-up group into the home straight, save for his stablemate Speed Mission (Alan Munro) who had been clearly outpaced from the start. The moment Santana let rip, Tashi opened up for a two-length break but started to noticeably shorten strides inside the last furlong.
Rikioh (Danny Beasley) emerged from the pack and looked like he could give his trainer Theo Kieser another success in the two-year-old series following Rappor in the first Leg, but the winning post arrived on time for Tashi who held on by a short head from Rikioh. The other Kieser runner Neutrinos (Barend Vorster) ran third another three lengths away.
The winner clocked 59.85 for the 1000m trip on the Polytrack.
“He’s a bulky and compact type who came here on the heavy side. We’ve managed to take a bit of weight off him, but he’s got stronger and stronger and has shown us plenty of ability since,” said Clements.
“We didn’t really push him at his barrier trial (fourth on March 13), but he still ran good. He would come on from whatever he did today.
“Being by Johannesburg, he’s a typical sprinter. I’m pretty happy with the other horse (Speed Mission) as we knew he would look for more ground. He ran on well in the end.”
Clements, whose best result in the Golden Horseshoe series was probably Three Rings Trophy winner Totality’s second place in a leg two years ago, said he had a few more Argentinian-bred juveniles waiting in the wings.
“I have about four or five of them in the barn. They are taking a bit longer than those two, but they’ve acclimatised quite well,” he said.
Santana said he had always liked Tashi from the moment he jumped on his back.
“I ride him all the time. He’s a very strong horse,” said Santana.
“He had a good jump today and I was confident he would be hard to beat when he turned in front at the top of the straight.”
