Former New Zealand two-time winner Biraz opened his local account courtesy of a blinding turn of foot that saw him claim the $80,000 The British Club Gallop (1100m) with a late flourish on Sunday.
With only one second place at Kranji to show for – registered at his debut in July – in five starts, the Per Incanto five-year-old has not quite reproduced the handy form his record of two wins (1200m, 1300m) from six starts in New Zealand might suggest.
But well ridden by first-time partner Matthew Kellady in Sunday’s Class 3 Division 1 race, Biraz ($91) rattled home on the outside to settle the issue between the duelling pair of Yabadabadoo (Shafrizal Saleh) and Buenos Aires (Wong Chin Chuen) inside the last 100m.
All the pre-race talk had all week been skewed towards Yabadabadoo, with a huge query hanging over whether Michael Clements’ gun three-year-old could erase the painful memory of his inexplicable last start when he completely petered out after putting a foot wrong at the 600m.
There was also a lot of interest generated over last-minute favourite Autumn Rush. Could he recombine with the young Simon Kok Wei Hoong for back-to-back wins after he gave the Ipoh-born apprentice jockey his first career win last Friday?
The answer seemed to be leaning towards a ‘yes’ when the Steven Burridge-trained galloper wrested the lead back from Dragon Spirit (Chin Chee Seng) at the 300m, but Yabadabadoo also had the purple side of Kranji cheering when that mysterious last run seemed to have been well and truly exorcised as he pounced on Autumn Rush with his customary dash.
Buenos Aires, who has been making slow headway of late, was also joining the fray, but in the end, despite all their industry and will to win, they had to settle for the minor prizemoney when a blue flash bolted in out of nowhere.
Racing away with the better momentum, the Al Arabiya Stable-owned and James Peters-trained Biraz went on to score a soft win by 1 ¼ lengths from Yabadabadoo who denied Peters a quinella by nosing Biraz’s stable companion Buenos Aires out for second place. The winning time was 1min 6.45secs for the 1100m on the Polytrack.
“He was first-up from a break and had a nice trial last week,” said Peters.
“There was a decent clip upfront and he finished off very well. Matty gave him a good ride, he just waited for clear room in the straight, and the horse did the rest.
“He should be even better over more ground as he showed at his two wins in New Zealand.”
Biraz was not the only one getting off the mark - his owners were, too. The Al-Arabiya Stable shaped up as a major force to reckon with last year, but had been strangely quiet this year until Sunday.
Racing manager Abdullah Alsakaff dedicated that first 2018 win, scored for good measure in a sponsored race, to principal owner Mansor Gandhi who recently welcomed an addition to his family.
“I’d like to dedicate Biraz’s win to Mansor who is not at the races today. He is now the proud father of a little boy named Ali who was born in December,” said Alsakaff.
“Biraz means ‘outstanding’ in Arabic, and he sure was outstanding today. Well done to James for the way he has brought his horse to his peak and well done to Matty for a perfectly-judged ride.”
Kellady could not wipe the smile off his face at the prize presentation. The Malaysian hoop must have been thankful for still reaping the rewards despite the fickle nature of racing at times.
One race earlier, Joyous, the horse he considered as his best chance to not return empty-handed, got cast in the starting gates and was subsequently scratched.
Heading back to the jockeys’ room in the officials’ car is never fun, but to be standing tall with a trophy in the very next race more than made up for it.
“What happened with Joyous was disappointing. Maybe because I know him too well, and he knows me too well, too,” he said philosophically.
“But Biraz turned a bad day into a very good day. He was on the bridle and always travelling well round the bends.
“All I had to do was wait for a trouble-free run and look for daylight. He was just too good in the end.”
