|
Another winning ticket for Burridge |
|
Michael
Lee |
|
Current With seven runners at Friday¡¯s Polytrack nine-race meeting and
nine runners at Sunday¡¯s 12-race meeting over turf, the Australian
conditioner would be unwise not to roll out the heavy artillery, now that his
first crowning is almost within whiffing distance. Heading Burridge¡¯s armada is impressive last-start winner Mr
Raffles, who lines up in the penultimate event on Sunday, a $75,000 Class 3
race over 1400m. The New Zealand-bred five-year-old son of little-known sire
Storm Creek (x Storm Cat) will race with stable companion Dynamic Dan, who is
fully owned by Burridge, and looking to chalk up a three-on-the-trot.
Ridden by Vlad Duric, Mr Raffles, who was sent out as the
short-priced favourite in a Class 4 race over 1200m on July 30, was never in
doubt, walking in by four lengths from Shaolin Soldier for a stable quinella. ¡°He¡¯ll be up in grade on Sunday and I hope he can measure up,
though it may be too soon to tell how far he¡¯ll go,¡± said Burridge. ¡°But I have to say he won very easily at his last start. He
doesn¡¯t necessarily have to lead as he normally got back to third or fourth
in ¡°He does incline to get his head up and goes a bit keen, but I
think he will come out of that with time.¡± In ¡°He doesn¡¯t like a wet track. He ran over a heavy track in ¡°I hope it clears up by Sunday. He¡¯s a much better horse on top
of the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about his sire and breeding but he¡¯s won over
1400m in Granted the Raffles Racing Stable-owned gelding may not have
beaten much at his second outing at Kranji, but he did give a sneak peek of
what he had under the bonnet in a barrier trial on Tuesday. ¡°He¡¯s trained on very well since his win and ran a very nice
barrier trial on Tuesday,¡± said Burridge. ¡°I was pleased with the way he hit the line. Besides, running
second to Better Than Ever is almost like a win, you know.¡± The Laurie Laxon-trained unbeaten star, who will bid for an
unprecedented run of 10 wins without losing in the Jumbo Jet Trophy on
Sunday, again turned the trial into a one-horse act in a field that was not
devoid of depth. But Mr Raffles served notice of his vast potential by coming out
tops among the beaten brigade that featured heavyweights like Ghozi, Eclair
Fatspass (who beat him by nearly three lengths at his debut), Powerful Ruler
and Lim¡¯s Fighter. Sunday¡¯s opposition is a touch easier though the likes of Master
Magic, Ten Ten Lai and Anak Lutong are no pushovers in that Class, and
certainly not his own stablemate Dynamic Dan. ¡°He¡¯s racing very well and is one of the most consistent horses
in my stable. He ran third in a Kranji Stakes C race before,¡± said Burridge. ¡°I have freshened him up and expect him to run well. It¡¯s hard
to split them. ¡°Of course it would be nice if Dynamic Dan wins as I would also
collect stakes money, but it would be nice if Mr Raffles could win too as his
owner Dato Yap has been very good to me!¡± Burridge explained that the new association with the
Malaysian-born Dato Yap Kim San stemmed out of a sign of gratitude. ¡°Dato Yap regularly buys horses in Australia and New Zealand,
but is also involved with the new racing industry in Vietnam and asked me if
I could help him get some track riders,¡± said Burridge. ¡°I sent him a few girls from ¡°Dato Yap just bought a stud in In After scoring second-up, Banks¡¯ Gift, a son of Over, failed to
set the local scene alight and has been recently moved to Kuala Lumpur-based
Singaporean trainer Mohd Sukri for better luck. Other than Mr Raffles, Dato
|
