A bumping duel between stablemates Drovetti and Mr Scribble down the home straight in Race 5 finally saw the former outplug the other for an impressive win at Kranji on Friday.
Trainer Steven Burridge, who also had Piercing in the $75,000 Class 3 race (1400m), was obviously pleased at the Mossman four-year-old’s second win from three starts, more so when it was also ringing up a quinella and a double for him.
Drovetti (Michael Cahill) gives Steven Burridge the second leg of a winning double at Kranji on Friday night.
“He’s a very good horse who ran out of galloping room at his last start. He couldn’t have beaten the winner (Richest Gift) who was too smart as well,” said Burridge.
“When he won over 1200m at debut, he was overracing a little and I told myself he was probably more of a 1400m horse, though he had run only up to 1200m in Australia.
“The addition of blinkers also helped him a lot today.”
Drovetti slotted into the box seat from the get go and lobbed along nicely within his own steam under jockey Michael Cahill. Gusinsky led but was soon taken on by favourite Monkey Man (Danny Beasley) before rounding the home turn, while Mr Scribble (John Powell) was also issuing his challenge on the outside.
That was when the Burridge pair collided when Mr Scribble hung in and Drovetti seemed to shy away. But the astute Cahill let his mount find his own strides, and with 150m to go gathered him up for a last burst, which he did hand over fist to score in brilliant fashion.
“His stablemate made things difficult for us. We had a bit of a bumping duel around the home turn which intimidated my fellow a little,” said Cahill.
“But to his credit, he seemed to be willing to go the more he bumped into the other horse. He was inclined to do the opposite of what another horse would have done in a similar situation.
“He relaxed very well in the running and gives every indication he should go over more ground, perhaps up to 1600m.
“He’s a good horse that I would definitely like to stay on.”
Drovetti, a two-time winner in Queensland and New South Wales before he was exported to Singapore, carries the famous colours of Ninetyfive Emperor Stable, the same connections of the namesake-champion sprinter. |