Trainer Mark Walker looks to have unearthed another smart galloper as Rise 'N' Shine strengthened his blossoming credentials with a victory in the Capablanca 2008 Stakes on Sunday.
The New Zealand-bred gelding made the most of jumping from pole position in the gates to leave Alfonso (Corey Brown) nursing his second defeat inside two weeks as Rise 'N' Shine came home with a length-and-a-quarter to spare in a winning time of 1min 23.54secs.
Almost a second behind was Clermont Cub (Lisa Allpress) who could not sustain his early charge and faded down the straight to finish three-and-a-quarter lengths further adrift in third.
For Walker, who saw his Zabeel three-year-old salute for the third time in four starts, it only helped to reaffirm the potential he saw in the bay galloper who costs NZ$130,000 and has now collected close to S$120,000 in stakes earnings during his short time in Kranji.
“What a lovely horse he's been for us,” said the Kiwi conditioner. “He keeps getting better with time.”
“He's got a good turn of foot and definitely has a bright future here in Singapore,” he added. “It's great what the Singapore Turf Club has done to increase the prizemoney for the races. Look at this horse, he's already made back his purchase price in this short period.”
Ridden by regular partner Manoel Nunes who has overseen all four starts, Rise 'N' Shine fully justified his status as the short-priced $6 overwhelming favourite with a blistering run down the straight as he left his six other rivals trailing in his wake.
“He may be young but he's very exciting,” said Nunes. “He was clearly the best horse in the field. We had a very good barrier, especially in the small field.”
It was a textbook run from the Brazilian rider as he kept his mount in the box seat hugging the rails and bided his time with a handy ride.
“There was no need to take him away from the fence since it was such a small field. I could just sit there and travel quietly,” he said.
It paid off handsomely as Rise 'N' Shine had enough in the tank when it mattered as Alfonso, who had shed 15kg in a fortnight ahead of this race, seemed to find a second wind and threatened to run him down over the final furlong.
“I wasn't worried as I knew I had plenty of horse in hand and just stayed patient and when I did let him go, he took off easily,” said Nunes.
There were bigger races ahead for Nunes who will be in the irons of the Gold Cup winner and Michael Freedman-trained Tropaios, who is one of the leading contenders for the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) later in the day's programme.
The omens were promising for Singapore's leading jockey after he notched his 43rd and 44th winners of the season when he scored back-to-back victories, saluting aboard Freedman's Eisenheim in the next race, the Victoria Racing Club Trophy $60,000 Open Benchmark 67 race over 2400m.
