If John Powell wins the Emirates Singapore Derby on Sunday, he would become only the second jockey to have won the prestigious classic three times since late former Perth champion jockey Johnny Wilson, but the Australian hoop reckons the dream record would be just that – a pipedream.
Powell is riding one of the smokies, Ares, for trainer Cliff Brown in the 2000m showpiece which will be at its 58th renewal, and 21st edition sponsored by Emirates. The 45-year-old hoop first landed the Group 1 race in 2005 with longshot Hello And Goodbye, which was incidentally trainer Bruce Marsh’s very first Singapore success, before doubling the dose with Clint six years later for the same Brown.
The Oscar Racing Stable-owned Clint was also a mild surprise when he only went around one horse (Better Than Ever) 200m from the winning post before sprinting clear, but Powell’s confidence level was still a few notches higher than with Ares, an Irish-bred by a sire who was more a sprinter, Approve.
Raced by up-and-coming outfit Olympian Stable, Ares boasts a record of three wins between 1200m and 1600m up to BM83 company all recorded this year at Kranji, but he has never ventured beyond the mile.He ran in the two Legs of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge of which the Derby is the grand final, but did not cut much ice. He passed some tired horses to finish ninth to Titanium in the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m) and stayed one-paced for fifth to Well Done in the Group 1 Patron’s Bowl (1600m).
Not exactly the type of lead-up runs to give a new partner plenty of condidence.
“I’m not sure he will stay. In the Patron’s Bowl, he was dropping off in the home straight,” said the experienced horseman who will be at his first link-up with Ares.
“He’s drawn a bad gate (18) which doesn’t help. I will have to sit down with Cliff and work out a strategy.
“Either we go forward from that wide gate or we drop back and ride him for luck. Ideally, we’d be in five or six and hopefully we don’t get stuck in traffic.
“It’ll be a big ask, but the only good thing is there is no horse who stands out this year, and you never know when it’s an open race.”
Powell said he worked Ares on Wednesday morning and jumped off reasonably satisfied with what he felt underneath him, though the real acid test will be a different ball game on Sunday.
“I rode Ares on Wednesday and he felt quite strong. Cliff is a good trainer, especially with stayers and he’s done a good job with this one,” he said.
Powell said he was in the mix for a few other Derby hopefuls before taking the ride on Ares, a little in a case of whose name is left in the hat.
“Pat Shaw told me early doors he would give me a ride as he had five horses in the running at one stage, but the cards fell the other way in the end,” he said.
“Then Laurie (Laxon) said he may give me the ride on Mr Spielberg if James McDonald doesn’t fly in for the ride, but then Glen Boss got on and won on him. I rode him at his second-up run over 1400m, and he was coming along nicely.
“I also rode Titanium in the Singapore Guineas last year and told (then trainer) Michael Freedman he would be a nice Derby horse this year.”
Powell knows that jockeying for rides can be a game of roulette, with the ball stopping at only one number, which if it is his, would mean equalling Wilson’s record (Dark Romance II in 1963, Jumbo Jet in 1972 and Tien An Mun in 1975), but Powell is not in it for the history books.
“Hello And Goodbye was a surprise but Clint could stay, which was the one thing in his favour,” said Powell.
“He was a Class 3 horse, but Cliff had him to the minute and he also drew one which was a big plus.
“It’s different this time as Ares looks a bit out of his depth here, but we’ll go in and do our best. If it happens, it’s great, but having my name to two Derbys is already great.”
