Among the stars under Shane Baertschiger’s care are the likes of top galloper El Milagro and Faaltless but it is Blue Swede who he holds in highest regard
And following the O’Reilly three-year-old’s stunning last-to-first victory in the $65,000 Novice race over 1200m on Friday, it was hard not to see why Baertschiger was making such a fuss over him.
Not only did the New Zealand-bred galloper have to come from the rear and make up ground on what seemed like an insurmountable lead that stretched to almost 10 lengths at one point with Balestra (Mohd Suhaimi) and favourite Victory Achiever (Corey Brown) setting a quick tempo at the front, he had to do so whilst running from a wide position.
Even Baertschiger thought Blue Swede, who was first-up after a four-month spell but still well-supported as second favourite at $24 behind the public’s darling Victory Achiever, looked dead and buried as the eight runners turned for home.
But his brown gelding, with jockey John Powell aboard for the first time, had other ideas as he turned on the afterburners and blazed home to cross the line in a winning time of 1min 12.77secs and two lengths to spare from Let’s Talk Now (Alan Munro) with Balestra another length-and-three-quarters behind in third.
“It probably helped us the way the two horses went out so quickly but he was in an impossible position at the turn,” said Baertschiger, who moved up to sixth position in the premiership thanks to his 12th win of the season.
“The way he won, it was just an incredible performance from him. He’s got a great turn of foot and he’s potentially the best horse in my stable.”
It was the galloper’s second win from four starts and brought his stakes earnings to around $70,000 for Baertschiger, who is also his owner. It also gave Blue Swede back-to-back victories after he saluted in a Restricted Maiden (1400m) last November before his long lay-off.
The break was meant to freshen him up and he returned a stronger, albeit heavier, horse though the additional weight gained did not cause Baertschiger any undue concern.
“He was up in body weight. I think he put on 9kg but it didn’t worry me one bit,” he said. “He’s quite a lean bugger anyway.”
Lean and packed full of speed was Powell’s assessment of his mount.
“I let him switch off and rode him quietly at the back to conserve energy as it was his first-up but I knew he’s got such a turn of pace,” said the Australian hoop, who picked up his 16th win of the campaign and moved into fifth position in the jockey standings.
“He’s a nice horse and hopefully he stays light. He’s filled out and looks more muscular since coming back and is more confident.
“He used to play up in the barriers earlier in his career but he’s mentally more acceptable nowadays. He’s probably the best horse we’ve got,” added Powell, who regularly rides for his compatriot Baertschiger.
He also sounded an ominous warning for Blue Swede’s fellow three-year-old rivals, including juvenile champion War Affair, ahead of next Sunday’s Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m), which is the opening leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.
“The 1200m is not really his type of race, the mile is much better for him,” said Powell. “War Affair is a really good horse but I don’t’ think we’ve seen this horse’s true ability yet.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Baertschiger and he retains high hopes for his charge and cannot wait to pit him against the best Kranji has to offer.
“The further the distance, the better he is. He’ll probably have another start, in the 1400m, and then it’s on to the Guineas,” he said.
Held on May 16, the $500,000 Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) is the third and final leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge and will be a hotly-contested affair with the likes of War Affair, Rite Of Spring, Daniel and Goodman among the leading candidates.
