Tobias right on target

Michael Lee
Friday, December 26, 2008

A stirring battle between Tobias and Goldschatz inside the last furlong saw the former emerge victorious to score an emotional win for his connections in the $65,000 Graduation race (1600m) on Friday.

Benefitting from a fast pace set by Kingpin in the first half of the race and Twice Regal in the second half, the duelling pair got locked in battle inside the last 100m, where the greater experience of Michael Cahill over apprentice Mohd Azrull may have clinched the race.

The consistent Tobias (Michael Cahill) edges out Goldschatz (Mohd Azrull) in Race 3.

Tobias was at his third win from only 11 starts and has already brought earnings close to $130,000 for his owners, Tobias Stable, managed by regular Kranji personality Edward Letchman, who is unfortunately not in the best of health.

“Hopefully, this win will give Edward and his wife Rita a bit of a kick-up in those hard times,” said winning trainer Steven Burridge.

“Edward’s been a great racing manager all these years. You wouldn’t get a bloke who’s more passionate about Singapore racing than him.”

The narrow win also brought some relief to Burridge, who had struck a quiet time since Gold Help saluted on November 30.

"It's been pretty frustrating lately, with a lot of seconds, but that's racing. Overall, we've had a very good season," said Burridge.

After settling in midfield, Tobias, ridden to perfection by Cahill, extended nicely at the top of the straight to get the better of Twice Regal (Robbie Fradd), who had tried to steal a march on his rivals at the 700m.

Goldschatz, who despite enjoying a nice pocket run in third on the fence, got further back than expected at the home turn, but rallied again inside the last furlong for a second gear. The Stephen Gray-trained galloper even looked like he could outgun Tobias on the rails, but peaked on his run and could not quite stick his neck out at the wire.

Tobias (x Germano) scored by a head from Goldschatz, with Twice Regal hanging on for third, 1 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 39.8secs.

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