Alexandra Palace gets up under Nooresh Juglall
There was a strong South African flavour to Friday’s Singapore racing with powerhouse Cape breeders Varsfontein Stud celebrating a winning Patrick Shaw – Jet Master double, ridden by Barend Vorster and Nuresh Juglall.
Vorster is a South African born and bred jockey, who has ridden in Singapore with great success for many years.
The first Mauritian to be licenced to ride in Singapore, Juglall honed his craft for five years in South Africa where he claimed two National apprentice jockeys’ titles in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 as well as two Highveld apprentice jockey championships.
Varsfontein bred Mr Fantastic (originally named Southern Dancer), a son of Jet Master out of the Jallad mare Jalberry, won the Restricted Maiden Plate run over 1200m under a confident Barend Vorster.
Mr Fantastic was signed for R800 000 by the Equine Group on the 2013 Emperor’s Palace National Yearling
Patrick Shaw – great Jet Master double at Kranji – both bred by Varsfontein
A few races after Mr Fantastic had Patrick Shaw’s assistant-trainer Ricardo Le Grange eulogising owners Mark Yong and Bernard Kantor for taking the path less travelled with South African-breds, he was given another striking vindication in Alexander Palace.
Alexander Palace was the first of a batch of 10-odd South African-breds purchased by Yong (TImen/Avengers Stable) last year to get on the scoresheet last July.
It was a glorious moment savoured by the Yongs and the Patrick Shaw yard given the patience of Job they had to show while their precious cargo went through an epic six-month quarantine rigmarole in Mauritius and UK before reaching Singapore due to frustrating SA export protocols.
Varsfontein bred Mr Fantastic (originally named Southern Dancer) as a yearling
As the old proverb of “all good things come in pairs” go, Alexander Palace joined the party with a return to winning ways in the $100 000 Open Benchmark 89 race over 1600m.
Ridden by his regular partner Nooresh Juglall, the former South African Listed and Dubai stakes winner settled snugly in fourth on the fence before switching out to the middle of the track to launch his bid at the point of the turn.
Juglall rode with renewed vigour and Alexandra Palace got the verdict by the barest of margins from a very gallant Thumping. Bourbon Goldman strode in late but had to settle for third another half-a-length away. The winning time was 1min 37.04secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.
Fitted with blinkers for the first time at his last start, Alexandra Palace was a big let-down when he ran last, beaten by more than 11 lengths by stablemate Davide in an Open mile race. But to Le Grange, “going back to basics” with a nice rest coupled with the removal of blinkers brought out the five-year-old’s true colours.
“We went back to basics with him and I think that’s what did the trick,” said Le Grange deputising for Shaw who only returned from his annual South Africa holiday earlier in the day.
“We gave him a freshen-up and taking off the blinkers probably did spark him up again.
“I’m also happy we’ve had two Jet Masters winning for Mark tonight. Like I said earlier, it’s extremely pleasing to see those South African-breds win after the long time it’s taken to get them back to the track.”
A winner of the Listed Sea Cottage Stakes for Mike De Kock during his local career, the Varsfontein Stud –bred Alexandra Palace is by Jet Master out of the Darshaan mare, Alexandra Bi, who won twice in Italy. She sadly passed on recently.
Alexandra Palace was purchased by Patrick Shaw for R2 500 000 on the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book 1.
