Stepitup – a great win
The $500 000 Gr1 Raffles Cup on Sunday proved to be another fantastic race, and was one of the best performances I have seen in Singapore, writes Gareth Pepper.
It is the second leg of the open Triple Crown and the field was highly competitve.
The highest rated horse in the field, Spalato was a late withdrawal on Sunday morning, with the reason given as an abnormal blood count. I get the impression barring that , all is not well within the champ’s stable and I hope he can get back to 100% as he really is a talent and connections would love to put 2015 behind them.
Back to the contest, where I went with Quechua to win.
Fastnet Dragon dictated from the jump and Alan Munro rode a peach of a race. He slowed things down and turned it into a sprint which did not really suit my first choice, who still managed a credible 3rd and has so far had a fantastic prep leading to the Longines Gold Cup being run on 15 November.
With 200m to go it looked like Fastnet Dragon had sealed the race, but what happened next was simply remarkable.
Michael Rodd rode the winner
Little Stepitup, who raced on the rail throughout, was swiftly pulled out by Michael Rodd and delivered a devastating turn of foot which you seldom see.
Do yourself a favour and watch the replay on the www.turfclub.com.sg website (race 9 on Sunday) – it will send chills down your spine!
He has now won the first two legs of the triple crown and will take his place in the Gold Cup. The difference is that it is a handicap and he will shoulder top weight of 58kgs, which means that most horses will be significantly better off at the weights with him in this contest.
But if any horse deserves it, it is the little iron horse.
Well done to Laurie Laxon and his rider Michael Rodd, on a fantastic achievement.
He has raced 11 times this year, for 6 wins, and 2 places- truly remarkable indeed!
Flax Movie
Last week I mentioned that Flax is in quarantine in preparation for his departure to Phalaborwa.
My colleague Matt Jones and one of our ace producers Bobby Tan have put together a tribute to the little champ and it is available on the Singapore Turf Club’s youtube channel – make sure the tissues are ready as it is a tear jerker!
To end off, last Friday’s night meeting was called off due to the haze and a PSI reading of 199. Again the after- effects of the Indonesian crop burnings have reared their ugly head and the sooner this archaic practice becomes redundant the better.
All and sundry are suffering and the environment is taking a pounding.
