Smart stayer Cannon Hill needed every centimetre of the $75,000 Kranji Stakes C over 2200m on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
Ridden by Barend Vorster, Cannon Hill got up in the last stride to score a short head victory over Bee Ahead (Manoel Nunes) with Mitre Peak (Alan Munro) a length away third.
Vorster allowed Cannon Hill plenty of time to find his feet in the six horse field, settling down in fifth position.
Make A Return (Sam Subien) led the way from Bee Ahead and Mitre Peak with the favourite Dragonfly (Oscar Chavez) caught out on a limb three wide in fourth position.
Chavez was content to sit out three wide on Dragonfly in a race where they crawled early, going through the first 1200m in 1 min 17.92 secs.
The pace quickened coming off the back and the three wide run began to take its toll on Dragonfly who was under pressure.
Turning for home Bee Ahead assumed control and with 200m left to run looked as though he would take catching, but Vorster stoked up Cannon Hill and inch by inch he pegged back the margin, grabbing a slender victory on the line.
“He’s an out-and-out stayer,” said trainer Patrick Shaw. “He just loves this distance.
“Last time over 1800m Barend was bustling him the whole way and he didn’t like it.
“Today over 2200m Barend was able to be a lot quieter on him and that’s what he wants. Even the short course didn’t bring him undone.
“The further the races the better it is for him. It’s just hard to find the right races for him, so I’ll have to sit down and have a good look at the program to see what is available.”
Cannon Hill was successful over 2200m on April 7 before switching back to 1800m for his last two starts.
Vorster said Cannon Hill can be a difficult ride as he’s a horse that doesn’t like being bustled during his races.
“Today I didn’t have to rush him at all and just let him do it himself,” said Vorster.
“I let them go a bit on the turn and just waited for the straight. He didn’t like being pushed and was putting his head up, but when he got serious he found me the two lengths that I needed.
“The small field certainly helped him but he really loved that distance as well.”
Cannon Hill began his career racing in Ireland where he had two wins from 10 starts and on Sunday landed his second win from 15 starts in Singapore.
A five-year-old Irish-bred by Holy Roman Emperor from Upperville, Cannon Hill took his prizemoney past the $100,000 mark in Singapore for owner Fred Crabbia with his win on Sunday.
Vorster made it a double for the afternoon when the Bruce Marsh-trained Stanzout took out the following race, the $35,000 Kranji Stakes D over 1600m.
