One More Minute wastes no time

Michael Lee
Sunday, June 19, 2011

Trainer Steven Burridge combined with the Hippocrates Stable to land a major upset with debutant One More Minute in the $65,000 Restricted Maiden (2&3YO) race over 1200m on Sunday.

After slipping under the radar in trackwork and at his barrier trials with indifferent performances, the Iglesia three-year-old was a different proposition on raceday, turning the race on its head from the moment he sprang out of his barrier No 1 under Matthew Kellady.

Galloping along at a steady pace upfront, One More Minute had Aniwa (Danny Beasley) for company with short-priced favourite Humor Town (Joao Moreira) in the slipstream in third while the rest of the 11-horse field were fairly strung out further afield.

One More Minute scores on debut under Matthew Kellady on Sunday.

Turning for home, many thought the longshot’s cheeky run would come to an end, but to everybody’s surprise he mustered another acceleration to suddenly put daylight between him and the rest. Kellady gave a few digs and One More Minute cruised away to win in a hand canter from Humor Town, who never made an inch on him, but plugged on manfully five lengths away.

Princess Eunice (Tengku Rehaizat) kept up her consistent form to run on late for third another 2 ½ lengths away.

“It’s a bit of a surprise but he’s done everything right,” said Burridge. “He had shown nothing before his debut and we just put the blinkers and it seems to have worked out all right.

“I actually told Matty to keep him in fifth or sixth as I was expecting a lot of pace, but he surprised us by setting the pace himself.

“I suppose the inside alley helped. He just kept going – and the way he won was really a nice surprise.

“But I am not going to get too carried away with today’s win. We’ll take him through his grades and see how he goes but he is definitely a horse with potential.”

Kellady, who barely knew the horse having ridden him only once or twice in trackwork, said the initial battle plan to work home from midfield went out the window the moment the starter pushed the button.

“Steven had instructed me to take a sit in fifth or sixth and make sure I give him a few digs just to let him know he's in a race,” said Kellady.

“He told me to save as much as I can and leave some reserve in the tank. Wait for the straight to then wake him up with a couple of slaps and he should grind home.

“But when he jumped, he was so quick and put himself into the race straightaway. I just let him roll forward and he just took the lead by himself.

“He was always relaxed and when he turned for home, his ears were pricked. I slipped some reins and he just went.

“I looked around and couldn't see them coming. I pulled the whip and soon realised I didn't need it.”

The win brought Burridge’s score to 32 winners, only eight adrift of current leader Laurie Laxon, and second on the trainer’s log.

Second big win for Risky Business in Malaysia

Michael Lee
Sunday, June 19, 2011

Risky Business added a second feature Malaysian success to his already-impressive resume when he landed the spoils in the Group 1 RM1 million Piala Emas Sultan Selangor over 2000m at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

The 2010 Singapore Gold Cup winner pulled off a similar feat for trainer Steven Burridge last December when he went on to score in the Group 1 Yang Di Pertua Negeri Gold Cup over 2200m at the same track.

Watching the race ‘live’ in the Press Box at Kranji on Sunday, Burridge, who had decided to stay back to oversee his home team race in Singapore to be represented up North by wife Julie, screamed himself hoarse when the Danehill Dancer six-year-old came from midfield to hit the front at the 200m under Noel Callow, the same jockey who rode him to success last December.

“Come on, big boy!” shouted Burridge repeatedly until the Results Stable-owned galloper was over the line, two lengths clear of the formerly Laurie Laxon-trained Good Feel (Gary Hind), with Generous Tycoon (Harmeet Singh Gill) third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The two runner-ups are both prepared by Kuala Lumpur trainer Johnny Lim.

“Mate, this horse is such a ripper,” said a jubilant Burridge. “His work on Monday was shocking – Tobias beat him and I was so worried I had his blood taken.

“But the blood results came back good and I decided to press on. I was only worried about the 59kg and he was just too good for them.

“It’s good for Julie as she has worked with that horse from Day 1, but it’s also a fantastic team effort to get him up there and win again.”

Malaysia was however not such a happy hunting ground for Singapore’s second representative New Rose Wood, who could only manage eighth, more than seven lengths off the winner.

From this 10^th win from 50 starts, Risky Business has added roughly another $200,000 to his stakes earnings to bring his total tally in the region of S$1.6 million.

Callow has once again lived up to his big-race jockey reputation, and for good measure, the efficient Australian hoop also bagged a treble in a country where he finished a close runner-up to Azhar Ismail last season. Before the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor, the popular heavyweight jockey had saluted aboard New Power and Fight To Live.