Tobias leads from the front again

Craig Brennan
Friday, August 27, 2010

A soft run in front allowed jockey Ronnie Stewart to pinch the $75,000 Class 3 Stakes over 1600m on Friday night.

Leading from the outset, Tobias scored a three-quarter length victory over Arjuna (Ismail Saifudin) with Esteem Power (Vlad Duric) the same margin away third.

Stewart couldn’t believe how easy a run he had received in front and thought he had been going a bit quicker than he thought.

Tobias (Ronnie Stewart) goes all the way in Race 6 on Friday night.

“When they left me alone in front I thought I must have been going a bit too quickly,” said Stewart.

“But I was able to count off a couple of sectionals and we were only going at around 13, so I knew we would be hard to run down.

“It allowed me to quicken up from the 800m and he’s a tough old grinder.

“When I went through the form there didn’t look a lot of pace and the race just worked out perfectly for us.”

Stewart and Tobias combined for victory over 1600m on July 23 before the pair finished fourth on the Polytrack over 1700m on August 8.

For winning trainer – and part owner – Steven Burridge, the win of Tobias brought up a winning treble following on from the earlier victories of Golden Scalpel and Shaolin Soldier and taking him to 63 winners for the season.

“I said to Ronnie to ride him exactly the same way as he did two starts back,” said Burridge. “If they are going slowly and nothing wants to lead, go to the front and quicken up from the 800m.

“He’s a very good front running rider and the race panned out perfectly for him as they left him alone.”

The 20mm of rain that fell at the Singapore Racecourse around midday on Friday played into Tobias’ hands as Burridge explained “he likes a bit of give”.

“He just doesn’t like the really firm tracks,” said Burridge. “The rain that fell earlier today suited him ideally.

“I thought it was a tougher race as there were five good hopes, but he’s done a good job to lead all-the-way.”

Burridge said the secret to Tobias was keeping him down in the weights as he has proved himself to be a non weight carrier.

“I suppose he’s going to pay a bit of a penalty tonight,” said Burridge. “I might have to look at stepping him up in grade to keep the weight off him.”

Recording his fifth win in 34 starts, Tobias, a seven-year-old by Germano from the Crested Wave mare Vienna Belle, edged his way closer to the $300,000 in prizemoney with Friday night’s success.