Trainer Cliff Brown was the first to admit he may not have made the smartest decision with Ares at his last preparation.
Champion galloper Debt Collector’s handler and winner of five Group 1 races last season is being a bit hard on himself, but to be fair, he was entitled to test such waters with the Irish-bred.
Ares began last year with a bang, winning three races in a row, stepping up from 1200m to 1400m and 1600m, looking like he was crying for more ground from the way he burst through late.
The Singapore Derby invariably became a race Brown began to toy with for the in-form galloper, but racing is not always a game of extrapolation, and the only way to find out is to head out there and get the proof of the pudding.
Unfortunately, the results did not match the expectations.
It began on a promising note, though. His run in the first Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m), when he brought up the rear before making late ground to finish just over six lengths off the winner Titanium, was grist for the mill.
Encouraged by that run, Brown pressed on with the stamina-building process towards the last two Legs, the Group 1 Patron’s Bowl over the mile and the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m), but the bubble soon burst.
The Patron’s Bowl run was okay though he clearly looked a little flat-footed against the likes of winner Well Done and runner-up Majestic Moments, but the 1 ¼ mile found him out. He ran last in the Derby.
Going on breeding as a guide, Ares is by a sprinter in Approve and is out of Paix Royale, a mare by Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Royal Academy, but in racing, genetics do not always adhere to a strict pattern. Brown had every right to test out his theory, has learned it the hard way that the Olympian Stable-owned gelding could not quite stay and is now changing tack with the benefit of hindsight.
“In his defence, I set him up for the Derby and that didn’t suit him. I mucked it up,” said a contrite Brown.
“We wanted to turn him into a stayer when the mile is, in hindsight, as far as he likes. I made a blue and that’s probably why he lost his way a little last year.
“Ode To Joy beat him at his last start, but we are much better in the weights to beat him this time. It’s still a difficult task to turn the tables on him as he’s a very good horse.”
Brown was referring to Ares’ second-up run after a five-month break when he stormed home late to run a one-and-a-half length second to the Ricardo Le Grange-trained Argentinian-bred. The pair meet again in Friday’s $100,000 Open Benchmark 83 race over the mile, with Ares two kilos better off this time.
“He has pulled up very well after his last race and I couldn’t be happier with the way he is at the moment,” said Brown.
“Glen Boss will ride him for the first time, and I expect a good run this Friday.”
The Australian handler has also entered Magstock in the same race as Ares. The Tavistock four-year-old ran a cracking third to stablemate Gilt Complex in a Class 3 race over 1400m on Sunday.
