Newbury Racing’s Flax is top-class
The weekend’s feature racing produced two amazing finishes and one of the best moments to date for me personally in Singapore, writes Gareth Pepper.
Emperor Max looked the right horse for the Garden City Trophy but with 600m to go it looked like he would struggle to finish in the first three.
He is tough and resilient, and he showed again why he is so good.
Under strong urgings by regular pilot Corey Brown he turned things around and in a remarkable showing he got up to win in the last 50m.
Brown looked relieved and an elated trainer Steven Gray was just delighted and so he should be- what a marvelous performance from his star. Without giving too much away, he could be headed to Ascot late October – and also to Hong Kong in December for the international sprint.
Flax
My highlight of the day however was Flax’s victory in the Committees Prize.
The little horse was ridden for the first time by leading Australian Michael Rodd.
Hot Rodd, as he is known in Singapore, is an ardent form studier and when analyzing Flax’s best performances he mentioned earlier in the day that he was very keen to change the horse’s pattern and take him to the front.
Well the rest is history and under a fantastic tactical ride, he found all the way to the line from the jump and held on for what was a thoroughly deserved victory.
Kudos to David and Sam Hill who have really handled the little guy’s career so well and I must congratulate Gael and Dennis Evans, who were on course. Dennis was a gracious victor and his winning speech showed just how humble and down to earth he is.
Formula Won
The Grand Prix was fantastic!
My highlight was seeing Maroon 5 perform live in the flesh. I say ‘flesh’, because front man Adam Levine was quick to whip off his shirt and that sent many a lady into a tizz.
Jokes aside, I have seen many live acts back home, and they were by far the most incredible, fun and interactive act I have seen and I would happily pay good money to see them perform any day of the week.
I would highly recommend that if you get the chance too, don’t hesitate to see them live.
Winging It
As I write this I am at 30 000 feet on my way to an island holiday with the parents.
My father enjoyed the Grand Prix, and after paying the equivalent of R180 for a beer the entire weekend , he is looking forward to sit back, relax and enjoy some good food, cheap beer and heavenly scenery.
He did decide that coming out of winter in SA, to try and ‘work on his tan’, while staying with me, before heading off. But he quickly got charred and resembles a warning beacon at the moment.
Let’s hope he heals up quickly as I am sure he cannot wait to hit the beach in his new speedo.
Till next time!
