The Mark Walker pair of Smileswithhiseyes and Riedel may not be blood brothers, but the two four-year-olds seem to be joined at the hip in a “sibling rivalry” of sorts these days.
Smileswithhiseyes is an Irish-bred by Marju and raced by the Lucky Stable, and Riedel, a New Zealand-bred by Saperavi is one of many making up the Singapore offshoot of the massive Te Akau Racing operation. They may have been poles apart originally, but they have somehow been plotting an identical path at their last four Kranji starts – all in Kranji Stakes C company.
At their first two match-ups, a 2000m and 1900m race, they both lost to Mr Armstrong and One Rar respectively, but without losing any marks. Bar one run when Riedel was hampered early and finished well off Mr Armstrong, they both ran on well to finish right on the heels of the placegetters.
The first of the Walker duo’s head-to-head stoushes came at their third clash a fortnight later, in a 1700m race on May 9. On that day, the Irish got the upperhand by a nose, but the Kiwi would not be denied his revenge, albeit friendly.
They again crossed paths two weeks later and duly swapped places, with Riedel producing the better finish this time around to oust his stablemate by a neck for back-to-back stable queue-ups, but in the reverse order.
With the pair tied on one win apiece, their trainer was not about to tear them asunder. He sent both of them for a well-deserved break.
More than two months have since elapsed, and surprise surprise, their latest move again saw them locked in tandem. The two middle-distance runners resume in the same race for their fifth successive clash this Friday, both dropping back in distance in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1200m on Polytrack.
Walker, however, explained the “brother act” was the product of neither coincidence nor design, and was certainly not some in-house two-horse war brewing. They just happen to fall in the same ratings band, he said, with Smileswithhiseyes (71) only two points clear of Riedel (69) – a one-kilo pull reflected in Friday’s race (56kg versus 55kg).
“There’s nothing going on. They just happen to be in the same grade, so there is a high chance they will run in the same race,” said the New Zealander.
“They are no superstars and I can’t really split them, but they can both be useful to us. They ran in the same races lately and the results showed they can both earn a lot of money over a period of time.
“After their last race, they both went to the resting stables as they’ve had a bit of racing between them. They come back at the same time on Friday.”
Walker thought the 1200m trip would be ideal for a comeback race before they are stepped up in distance to their comfort zone.
“They come back at the right time. They both go better on Polytrack, even if on paper, 1200m may be too short for both,” he said.
“You never know as some (middle-distance runners) sprint well fresh. You can’t write them off.”
While the pair’s career paths have almost mirrored each other of late, a new element is added to the equation this time – Lisa Allpress gets on Smileswithhiseyes as regular partner Manoel Nunes is out suspended for four days while Walker’s apprentice jockey Shafiq Rizuan keeps the job on Riedel.
