French jockey Olivier Placais could not have wished for a better finish to his Singapore stint than by guiding Travertine to victory in the $55,000 Class 4 Stakes over 1200m on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
At his last day of riding before he departs for Europe on Tuesday, Placais rode a well judged race in bringing Travertine home a one-and-a-quarter length winner over Matterhorn (Stephen Baster) with Magic Moxie (Greg Cheyne) two-and-a-half lengths away third.
Placais heads to Switzerland where he will ride for leading trainer Miroslav Weiss at the beginning of April and he will certainly enjoy the higher weight scale over in Europe.
“I have really enjoyed my time here in Singapore,” said Placais. “And to go out a winner on my last day makes it complete.
“I have been finding it very difficult with my weight here and have also been finding it hard getting rides. I have to ride at 51kg or 51.5kg whereas in Europe I can ride at 55kg.
“I have been very happy with my two years here and I had a very good 2011.
“I would really like to thank all the trainers and the owners that have supported me and especially David Hill (Travertine's trainer) who has been there for me from the beginning to the end.
“I want to be remembered by the owners and trainers here for my record not with getting just one or two rides a weekend, so I wanted to go back home on my terms.
“I am sad to leave Singapore and I do take home with me some very good memories but sometimes in life you have to make the tough decisions.
“This was one of those decisions I made to go home and hopefully the new job works out well.”
Hill praised the work ethic of Placais who had done a lot of the work on Travertine in preparing him for Sunday's success.
“We had been having a problem with him at the start but Olivier has done a lot of the work on this horse,” said Hill.
“It was a good ride by him and I am glad to have provided him with a winner at his last day of riding here.”
Travertine had been a consistent performer in similar Class 4 grade and Hill was hoping for a win to push him up in grade.
“He's only a small horse and he finds it hard to carry big weights,” said Hill.
“I was hopeful of him winning so as to go up a class but also come down in weight.
“He's a handy sort of horse but unfortunately a little on the small side.”
A four-year-old Australian-bred by Rock Of Gibraltar from the Brave Warrior mare Fetes Galantes, Travertine scored his third win from 12 starts and took his prizemoney to around $125,000 for Newbury Racing.
