Class came to the fore for Super Winner when the accomplished sprinter outgunned a smart field on at Kranji last Friday evening.
Super Winner continued his love affair with the all weather circuit in Singapore in claiming the Royal Turf Club Of Thailand Trophy Kranji Stakes over 1100 metres.
Super Winner relished the drop in grade on Friday but it took some clever steering from jockey Antonio Da Silva who found himself boxed in on a horse travelling well midway through the event.
Strung up behind the leaders turning for home, Da Silva eased Super Winner into the clear on straightening and the four-year-old wound up strongly, gobbling up the leaders and clearly establishing a winning margin.Olympic Anthem ran on strongly from well back for second, 1.8 lengths away from Super Winner, with Lincoln Road tasting defeat for the first time at his first real class test with a brave third.
An Australian-bred son of Kaphero, Super Winner has been a model of consistency in Singapore only once missing a place in 16 starts and with two Group placings to his credit he looks capable of landing a higher-graded sprint in the near future.Sunday’s Kranji meeting saw a fighting all-the-way win by Spanish Bay in the evening’s feature over 1400 metres.
Spanish Bay jumped well and speared straight to the front for Rizuan Shafiq and called on all his fighting qualities to hold his rivals at bay.Best Tothelign worked forward to sit at Spanish Bay’s flanks and looked a threat in the straight but Spanish Bay would not be denied, kicking strongly and then holding a late charge from Storm Troops to win by a nose.
Spanish Bay relished a drop in grade after he dropped out to be beaten almost 10 lengths at his previous start in the Group 2 Stewards Cup.
His previous form had been consistent with three successive runner-up finishes and last year had been competitive in stakes events winning at Group 2 level and placing in the Group 1 Singapore Guineas.He hasn’t been able to match those performances since but while the top sprints may be beyond his reach at present he can pick up more races when placed conservatively.
Earlier in the program, I've Got A Feeling showed the benefit of race experience when leading all the way to win the Inglis Ready2Race Stakes 2016, the fifth leg of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe Series.Fourth on debut, I’ve Got A Feeling and kept going strongly to narrowly hold off the debutante Distinctive Darci, who sat second throughout but just couldn’t reel his rivals in, with fellow first starter Cai Poh Wang third.
Beaten 4.5 lengths at his first start in a restricted maiden, I’ve Got A Feeling looks capable of progressing further with similar targets in mind.An Australian-bred gelded son of Encosta De Lago, I’ve Got A Feeling is out of the former Group 1 winning race mare Zirna, who landed the New Zealand Bloodstock Breeders Stakes in 2003 and has also produced Sydney Group 3 winner Crafty Irna.
Progressive sprinter Famous Artist continued a run of consistent form in winning over 1100 metres.Having run top two in his previous three outings including a benchmark 67 win two starts back, Famous Artist sat midfield then when worked into the clear in the straight and responded quickly to reel in the leaders, holding of the late surge of Secret Mission to win by a half length.
