Jockey Ryan Curatolo was impressed by the improvement made by smart youngster Ravalli after he kicked clear en route to a soft win in the Class 4 race run over 1200m at Kranji on Saturday.
A one-time winner over 1100m in Echuca, Northern Victoria last October, the Ilovethiscity three-year-old showed promise on debut in a Novice race over the same trip on 18 May when he was just pipped by Hole In One, who is nominated for the Group 1 Singapore Derby next Sunday, in the last 50m to run second.
Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Mark Zahra, who was on a one-day visit on Kranji Mile day, would be credited for that gun ride, but Ravalli also proved he did have untapped potential by opening his account at his very next start in a Class 4 race when ridden by jockey Ryan Curatolo on 16 June.
Ravalli (Ryan Curatolo) off to a smart win on Saturday (Pic – STC)
Four weeks later, Curatolo made it back-to-back wins on the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained gelding while not deviating too much from his handy winning tactics previously.
Though it was tempting to go forward after jumping from golden barrier number one, Curatolo kept Ravalli under a good hold in fourth on the rails, a running pattern similar to his last two runs, while Pacific Hero (Koh Teck Huat) rolled forward with debutant Goldenfield (Bernardo Pinheiro) following closely in second.
Pacific Charm (Zyrul Nor Azman), who settled on the outside of Ravalli, was angled out for his run upon straightening for the judges, leaving more room for Ravalli to make his sprint for home. The leader was left a sitting duck after Curatolo upped the ante on the hot favourite at the 400m and he ambled home with one-and-a-quarter lengths to spare.
Singapore Derby nominee Goldenfield could not muster an acceleration in the straight and faded to last. While it was disappointing, the Ricardo Le Grange-trained four-year-old was found to have bled after the race and will have to serve a mandatory three-month ban from racing, hence putting a halt to his Derby plans.
Colonel Son (Amirul Ismadi) was brave in second and Show All Sixty-One finished another three parts of a length away in third. The winning time was 1 min 9.73secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Curatolo, who was also aboard Ravalli at all his five barrier trials thus far, praised Ravalli for an improved run at his second win.
“The last ride (on 16 June) was very positive, but he got stronger and I think he improved 30% from last time,” said Curatolo of his 32nd winner.
“He’s a young horse but he’s starting to understand what he’s supposed to do.
“The last time I went for it, I felt he didn’t really pull away for me. He just stayed the same but today when I asked him to go, he really found another gear.
“But I haven’t really asked him so he hasn’t really gone all out. I think it’s a shame because he can have a bright future here if the Club is still open (last meeting on 5 October).
“He’s a very nice horse. I think he can go over longer, probably the 1400m.”
Prior to the win on Ravalli, Curatolo also booted home two other winners for Fitzsimmons, namely Volcanic and Maze in the SG$20,000 Open Maiden race and the SG$30,000 Class 5 Division 3 race (1100m) respectively, a sign that the mini alliance was gaining steady traction.
The pair combined to their first win with Mt Niseko in March this year, two months after Curatolo returned to Singapore for his second long-term stint since he last rode here on 23 November 2018, and the French rider has since bagged 11 more wins for Fitzsimmons.
While the Australian conditioner was pleased the successful partnership produced a hat-trick of wins for him too on Saturday, he also felt it was a bummer that Kranji fans will not get to see Ravalli progress down the road.
“He’s an exciting horse with a lot of upsides but we’ll bring him to Australia with us,” he said of his own plans to return to Australia to continue his training career after the last meeting at Kranji on 5 October.
“He’s still learning but I think if we got him here earlier, he would have been hard to beat in the Three-Year-Old (Group) races.
“We told him (Curatolo) to be patient and ride him (Ravalli) like the best horse in the race. He rode him beautifully and it’s a great day with three wins. We’d form a bit of a partnership.
“Also, a big thanks to (part-owner and principal of Jig Bloodstock) Josh (McLoughlan) and all the owners (Jig Racing and Legacy Power Racing Stable).”
Fitzsimmons was referring to the Gr3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m), Gr Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) and the Gr 2 Singapore Guineas (1600m), in which Lim’s Bighorn won the 3YO Classic while Ace Of Diamonds claimed the other two. They were held in April and May while Ravalli only had his first barrier trial on 11 April.
With two wins and a second from three starts in Singapore, Ravalli has now taken his earnings to close to SG$70,000 for connections.
