Davide (Barend Vorster) finishes strongly in Race 8 on Sunday.
Trainer Patrick Shaw could not have hoped for a better tonic at his comeback to the races from surgery when he saddled a winning treble with In Fact, Bale Star and Davide on Singapore Gold Cup day on Sunday.
The South African, who was last seen at the track when Quechua won the El Dorado Classic on October 26, has still seen his yard knock in wins in his absence, such as Barnato, Another Son and Super Kenny, but nothing beats the feeling of being on hand when three winners are added to the score.
Shaw said he was feeling well after the successful surgery to an area just behind his right ear, but just like any surgery, those three wins did not come without their share of ups-and-downs.
Favourite ($12) In Fact gave his backers a few anxious moments when he settled so far back for jockey John Powell in the $60,000 Humanity Stakes, an Open Benchmark 67 race over 1800m, but later stormed home to just beat Billy Britain (Rueven Ravindra) by the proverbial pimple (official margin was a nose) in a blanket finish.As if waiting for the judge’s verdict was not nerve-wracking enough, more heart flutters were in store when trainer Stephen Gray and Rueven held correct weight up for a while when they decided to review the replay of the last 200m in search of any room for a protest.
As for Bale Star, the comeback win after almost half-a-year in the $100,000 Charity Stakes (Open Benchmark 83 race) over 1400m was a great source of satisfaction for Shaw, but less so when it was revealed the Nadeem five-year-old had bled.
Davide’s first success over the mile – and an emphatic one at that given the way he streaked away to score by just under three lengths – brought cheers for the third time, but again, if there was to be a fly in the ointment, it was Alexandra Palace’s disappointing last place.
Still, overall, Shaw had three good reasons to feel on cloud nine, with his Singapore Gold Cup trio of Quechua, Emperor’s Banquet and Lizarre still waiting in the wings.
“It’s been a great day. It’s good to see Bale Star come back and win first-up, but unfortunately he’s bled. Time out again for him,” said Shaw with a wry smile.
“That’s racing for you. Alexandra Palace is not the same horse. He jumped good and seemed to be travelling okay but was gone in the home straight.
“Johnny Guitar was coming good but he got checked and that put him out of the race.
“Thank goodness for Davide, though. Even if he was the less-fancied ($55) of the three, I told Barend that if he settles, he will sprint home.
“We did try him over the mile in the early days, but he overraced too much. As he’s got older, he’s more settled now.
“We took the blinkers off today and I told Barend to ride him cold and it’s paid off.”
Vorster, who was at a race-to-race double having earlier won aboard Bale Star, said he let the Argentinian-bred seven-year-old son of Orpen settle into his own strides at the back before asking for the supreme effort at the top of the straight.
“Pat asked me to settle him second or third, but I was happy to let him do his own things at the back,” said the South African jockey, who himself recently overcame a tale of woes with a foot injury that took an inordinate amount of time to heal.
“I had an eye on Corey’s (Brown) horse Absolutely and when I was able to pinch a few lengths on him in the straight, I knew I would win. He got cheeky when he hung in onto the rails, but luckily he kicked clear for a very solid win.”
Davide defeated the surprising Dujardin (Craig Newitt) by just under three lengths with Absolutely third another nose away to clock 1min 34.56secs for the mile on the Long Course. Raced by Fred Crabbia, Davide has now recorded eight wins and 11 placings for stakes earnings in excess of $620,000.
