In his first assignment away from the sprints where he has made his name, star four-year-old Slew Of Lode passed the test with flying colours.
Even with the top impost of 57.5kg on his back, the chestnut gelding looked a class above the small field of seven runners as he easily beat Matterhorn (Noh Senari) by two lengths with stablemate Emperor’s Banquet (Danny Beasley) another half-length away in third.
Slew Of Lode, a four-time winner in Argentina and now a four-time winner in Singapore, recorded a winning time of 1min 23.09secs on the Short Course, and once again rewarded his many supporters with a modest payout of $7.
It was Slew Of Lode’s fourth win on the trot – all have come with jockey John Powell in the irons – after opening his Kranji career with a narrow loss to Strubeli last November and yet another dominant display had his connections full of praise for their Argentinian-bred raider’s abilities.
“He showed he’s a stayer and had no issues really with the 1400m,” said trainer Patrick Shaw.
The South African mentor has made no secret about the fact that the Fred Crabbia-owned galloper, has been destined for greater things, with an assault on the richly-prized Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge his main target for the year.
The 4YO Challenge begins on June 1 with the $300,000 Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m), moving on to the $500,000 Group 1 Patron’s Bowl (1600m) three weeks later before concluding with the $1.15 million Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m) on July 13.
"We will take him up race by race and will move him to the mile next,” said Shaw, whose yard is well-stocked with smart imports from South America and includes the highly-rated two-time Argentina Group 1 winner Johnny Guitar, a likely contender in the $1 million International Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint.
Meanwhile, Powell was delighted to maintain his unbeaten record aboard the Lode four-year-old, who is developing into a fine money-spinner for his connections after collecting around $175,000 in prizemoney from just five starts.
“I didn’t have to work him like I usually do with the 1200m,” said the Australian hoop. “At the straight he was cruising and picking up speed nicely.”
While Slew Of Lode’s undoubted class eventually told, he did not have things all his way early on as Matterhorn gave him a real fright with a bold charge right from the gates as the Michael Freedman-trained galloper kept him at arm’s length for the majority of the trip.
“He sort of switched off during the early parts and I had to give him a pick up a couple of times,” said Powell, agreeing the match-up had been the biggest test so far for his mount.
There was also a moment of hesitation at the 300m mark where Slew Of Lode was poised to pin back his ears and fly home but looked unsure which route around Matterhorn to take.
"I didn’t want to go on outside,” said Powell, whose judgment has been impeccable of late, having rocketed up the premiership to his current position of third with 24 winners, just two behind second-placed Alan Munro.
“I was just one wide at that point so I felt like I could take the inside and get the clear run all the way.”
It gave the heavyweight rider back-to-back victories after he steered leading trainer Alwin Tan’s mare Good Mummy to a maiden win in the previous race, a $38,000 Kranji Stakes D (1400m) and his night got even better when he completed his treble after saluting aboard the Laurie Laxon-trained Mangatangi in the final race, a $60,000 Class 4 (1000m).
His consistency has been equally impressive and he leads that statistic with 24 winners from just 96 rides for a strike rate of 25 percent.
