Pennywise, one of Kranji’s toughest gallopers, scaled new heights to take out the final feature event of the year, the SGD$175,000 Gr3 Colonial Chief Stakes over 1600m on the Polytrack on Sunday.
The Argentinian-bred four-year-old son of Pure Prize entered uncharted waters stepping out over the mile on this particular surface for the first occasion but it proved to be a winning move for trainer Ricardo Le Grange.
Pennywise (Vlad Duric, No 3) nabs Black Jade (Daniel Moor) in the Gr3 Colonial Chief Stakes on Sunday
Pennywise recorded his eight victory in 18 outings taking his career prizemoney beyond the SGD$430 000 mark for prolific South African owner Bernard Kantor.
Drawing the widest barrier of them all certainly didn’t help Pennywise’s bid for feature glory. Newly-crowned Singapore champion jockey Vlad Duric was forced to ride the gelding cold to obtain cover.
A genuine tempo was set in the early stages with a number of notable on-pace runners in the field. Duric’s confidence further sky-rocketed when the gelding was able to settle and travel so comfortably.
When the final feature of 2019 started to heat up at the 600m mark, Pennywise still had six lengths to find. Entering the straight, leading pair Super Dynasty (Beau Mertens) and Preditor (John Powell) began to tire which enabled Black Jade (Daniel Moor) to momentarily hit the lead inside the concluding stages with Pennywise pouncing late to make a race of it.
The gallant pair broke away from their challengers to go stride for stride over the final fifty metres and hit the wire locked together in a close photo finish, but it was Pennywise who asserted his authority right where it counted.
Le Grange has openly spoken about the trials and tribulations of 2019 for his stable but with a strong finish to the year, he’s looming ominously for a bigger and better 2020.
“Bernard is such a gentleman and a great man to train for. This horse deserves something like this because he’s been such a gutsy horse,” said the South African handler.
“It all started off like a fairytale, getting 65 winners at my first season. Then, things went pear-shaped, but it taught me to go out of my comfort zone.
“There are times you feel a little down, but you bounce back and you just get back on with it again.
“To the staff at home, they put in all the hard work all the time, and I appreciate it and thank them all.”
Duric bagged four winners on the final programme of the year, two of those being for Le Grange (Golden Dash took out the opening event), to cap a third consecutive premiership-winning season.
“He drew the widest barrier. It was very fast early and in the middle stages of the race, I bit the bullet and went right back on him, just that I couldn’t get any cover with him early,” said Duric.
“To his credit, he switched off for a couple of furlongs, and then I set him alight as I was a fair way off.
“He was staggering late over the mile on the Polytrack for the first time but he fought hard. It was a really good training effort by Ricardo and I’m pleased for him.”
Racing resumes at Kranji on Wednesday 1 January 2020 for the New Year Cup meeting.
