Outsider Trudeau didn’t shock everyone with his victory in the Group 3 $200,000 Garden City Trophy over 1200m on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
While the $308 win dividend didn’t endear him to the punters, trainer Bruce Marsh and jockey Corey Brown knew the horse was going into the race in excellent order.
Sitting back off the pace, Brown brought Trudeau home with a strong finishing burst to record a one-and-three-quarter length victory over Goal Keeper (Danny Beasley) with Huka Falls (Joao Moreira) a half-length away third.
Trudeau clocked a winning time of 1 min 09.28 secs for the journey on a track that had been softened a shade by rain earlier in the meeting.
The first shock came when Huka Falls rather than Goal Keeper led in the early stages but the tempo of the race was far from frantic. Meteor Mike (Alan Munro) and Trudeau were next in line with Masthead (Manoel Nunes) posted out three wide.
With 600m to run Beasley on Goal Keeper went up to apply the pressure to Huka Falls and the pace quickened appreciably with Masthead, Trudeau and Davide (Barend Vorster) all in close attendance.
Turning for home Goal Keeper poked his head in front of Huka Falls who was kicking back strongly on the inside. The pair looked all set to fight out the finish but Trudeau was far from being finished with.
The gelding had clear galloping room home and was starting to put in the big strides, reaching the lead with 100m to travel and drawing clear for a comfortable win.
Marsh said Trudeau, which began his career in Australia before heading to Malaysia and winning for Richard Lines before joining Marsh, had really turned the corner following a gelding operation.
“We knew he was flying but we also knew it was a tough race,” said Marsh.
“He trialled really well on Tuesday morning and we were confident that he would run a good race today.
“Corey rode him in the trial the other morning and could not have been happier with how he was progressing.
“He’s really turned his form around since he was gelded. I think that was around 12 months ago and his mind has really improved.”Marsh said he would wait and let the dust settle before deciding on the next outing, but said the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy over 1400m on November 10 was the likely option for the six-year-old.
He added the Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes over 1400m on October 20 would be the ideal lead-up event.
“We’ll wait and see how he pulls up from this but there are a couple of nice 1400m options for him the way he’s going,” said Marsh.
“The EW Barker could be a nice race for him and there’s another nice 1400m race along the way that could be a nice option as well.”
For Brown it was his second winner back following a short stint in France. He returned to riding in Singapore at the end of August.
His only other win since coming back also happened to be in a feature race, the Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy over 1400m with Mr Big on September 1.
Brown said had the race not been a Group 3 feature race he would have been extremely confident after travelling the first 300m of the event.
“He’s a lovely horse and we’ve started an association following my return from France,” said Brown.
“After we had gone 300m I couldn’t believe how well he was travelling and I thought if it was just an ordinary race we were the winner so far out, but against these horses you can’t be thinking that.
“He travelled so well in the race and when I pulled him out in the straight he was so tradesman like and attacked the line really well.
“Everything just panned out perfectly for him and against that type of horse it was a very good win.”
The victory gave Arexevan Racing their biggest success in racing and took Trudeau’s prizemoney past the $325,000 mark in Singapore.
A six-year-old by Exceed And Excel from Canadian Legacy, Trudeau has in total recorded seven wins from 33 starts in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, and on top on his Singapore prizemoney has RM30,000 and almost A$42,000 to his credit.
