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Scottish dressage enthusiast Katrina Laird was an overjoyed racehorse
part-owner on Sunday when her pride and joy Apache Crown won again within a
week, but this time in front of her.
Laird, who is based in Singapore, could not be on hand to see
the Beautiful Crown five-year-old dash home at his maiden Kranji win last
Sunday as she was overseas, but decided she would not miss his next outing on
a quick back-up in Sunday¡¯s $95,000 Open Benchmark 83 race over 1200m on
Polytrack.
Pitted against up-and-comers like Simply The Best, Just A
Man and Art Of Speed, the Steven Burridge-trained gelding had garnered only
lukewarm support at $46 despite drawing an alley in barrier No 1, as opposed
to being drawn in the outermost gate at his last win.
Apache Crown (Matthew Kellady) backs
up for another solid win on Sunday.
Apache Crown sat off the brisk speed set by noted
frontrunners My Son (Robbie Fradd) and Ten Ten Lai (Nelito Cunha) before
launching his attack at the 300m. Ten Ten Lai tried to oppose a staunch
resistance but once Kellady got hard at work, Apache Crown kicked clear to
score by half-a-length.
Simply The Best (Saimee Jumaat) who came off a torrid trip three
wide from the back, loomed up as a threat at the top of the straight but
peaked on his run to finish third a nose away from Ten Ten Lai.
¡°I was really disappointed I couldn¡¯t be here when he first won
as I was in Cambodia,¡± said Laird.
¡°But even today, it was a mad rush to make it to the racecourse
on time. I¡¯m so glad he won.¡±
Apache Crown runs under Burridge¡¯s name but has many
shareholders other than Baird on his ownership title card, including
Melbourne-based John Dow, Daniel Teo, Diane Swinfield - and one lucky latest
addition.
¡°This morning, Dato Terry Lee came to give me a cheque to buy
10% in the horse,¡± said Burridge of the well-known horse owner of Bocelli
fame.
¡°He had one cheque in one hand, and he took another one in the
other hand (with today¡¯s win prizemoney)!¡±
Burridge¡¯s wife Julie was also on hand to share in the happy
celebrations at the winner¡¯s stall and the Champagne Room.
¡°It¡¯s so great to see so many of them sharing in the joy of a
winner today,¡± she said. ¡°Both Katrina and Diane are avid horse riding
enthusiasts at the Saddle Club, where I also ride.
¡°Katrina has three horses there. She¡¯s paying a lot more on
those than on Apache Crown!¡±
Burridge said he decided to give the five-year-old another run
after last Sunday¡¯s boilover win (he paid $370) as ¡°there was nothing else¡±.
¡°There was no race for him for a month. He was rock-hard fit and
as he¡¯s a very hard horse to train, I decided to race him again,¡± said the
2010 champion trainer.
¡°It¡¯s very hard to ride him in trackwork as he is a mad bolter.
But he has certainly come right since his epiglottis entrapment (throat)
operation last year.
¡°He was up in class and he¡¯s done a good job beating a pretty
strong field today.¡±
Kellady, who seems to have developed an affinity with Apache
Crown, did admit to some misgivings about his ability to win on a quick
back-up, but was glad he was proven wrong.
¡°There is not much of him and I thought that last win would have
taken something out of him,¡± said the Ipoh-born jockey.
¡°Don¡¯t forget he had to do it the hard way by jumping from the
outside. I wasn¡¯t sure being drawn in would help him as I didn¡¯t know how he
would take the kickback.
¡°Actually, he went off the bit at the 600m. I think he didn¡¯t
like the kickback, but luckily once he got in the clear, he picked up
the bit again.
¡°I ride him in his trackwork. He needs a lead pony or else he
would just bolt away.¡±
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Blue Hedgehog finally mends his way
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Craig Brennan
Friday, April 01, 2011
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A lot of
patience and hard work was rewarded when Blue Hedgehog took out the $65,000
Restricted Maiden over 1200m on Friday night.
After showing
promise at his first two starts, Blue Hedgehog developed bad barrier habits
and it took trainer Steven Burridge and his staff eight trips to the
barrier trials before he made his return to the racetrack.
Ridden by
Matt Kellady, Blue Hedgehog scored by a neck over debutant Maillot Jaune
(Vlad Duric) with Travertine (Ronnie Stewart) running on strongly for
third, a half-length away.
Blue Hedgehog (Matthew Kellady)
sneaks up on the inside to defeat favourite
Maillot Jaune (Vlad Duric).
Following a promising debut
fourth behind Gingerbread Man, Blue Hedgehog then played-up at the barrier
in finishing fifth back in July which resulted in the gelding being sent
back to the barrier trials.
After a break and then being
gelded, Blue Hedgehog required eight trials before he was finally passed to
make his return to the racetrack.
¡°He would pass his first trial and then fail his second,¡± said Burridge.
¡°We tried everything with him. He would be fine at his
first trial and then would rear up and we¡¯d have to
go through the whole process again.
¡°Eventually we got him sorted out and I must thank
starter Dale Jeffs and all his staff for their help with this horse.
¡°They have been just as patient as what we have been and
we have seen the results here tonight.¡±
Burridge praised the ride of
Kellady aboard Blue Hedgehog who drew ideally in barrier one.
¡°I said to Matty to stay of the fence and ride for luck,¡± said Burridge. ¡°I knew the
leader (Irish Lightning) would hang and that Vlad would come to the
outside.
¡°I knew he would be fit with all the trials underneath
him and he was strong to the line.
¡°Hopefully now that we¡¯ve mended
his barrier manners and that he knows how to win a race he may be able to
go on with it.
¡°It has also been a good result for Dr Tan and the team
who have also been very patient.¡±
Blue Hedgehog, a
three-year-old by Postponed from the Prince Echo mare Echostatic, was a
NZ$110,000 yearling purchase and took his prizemoney to just short of
$40,000 for the Hippocrates Stable.
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Black the Icing on the cake for Duric
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Craig Brennan
Friday, April 08, 2011
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After having the best part
of a month off through suspension, jockey Vlad Duric has returned to race
riding in fantastic form.
In the space of three
meetings Duric has ridden eight winners and on Friday night added four
winners to his total for the season.
The quartet places Duric on
top of the Jockey¡¯s Premiership Table with 34
winners for the season, 12 ahead of last season¡¯s
Champion Jockey Joao Moreira.
Duric got the ball rolling
in the opening event, claiming the $55,000 Class 5 Stakes over 1200m
aboard Sinthree before Stephen Gray provided him with victory aboard
Stairway To Heaven in the $35,000 Class 5 Stakes over 1700m.
Isodynamic (inside) holds off Play On to give Vlad
Duric a winning treble.
He
completed the treble when Isodynamic took out the $35,000 Maiden Stakes
over 1000m and brought up his fourth winner when Black Ice took out the
main event of the night ¨C the $95,000 Open
Benchmark 83 Stakes over 1200m.
Duric said
a five meeting suspension that saw him sidelined through the majority of
March was a bit of a ¡°wake-up call¡± and made him more cautious.
¡°I decided to take a deep breath and
just let it happen,¡± said Duric. ¡°I think I was trying to force things a bit too much
and the suspension made me realise that I needed to be a bit more
cautious.
¡°In this game you have to take the
good with the bad and at the moment I will take the good luck as we can
all go through a lean spell at some time.¡±
Duric said
he was thankful for all the owners and trainers who have supported him
since his comeback to riding.
¡°This is my third meeting back and it¡¯s good to be on a roll like I am,¡±
said Duric.
¡°But mind you, Saimee (Jumaat) had
seven winners in a day so I can¡¯t be getting too
carried away.
¡°A lot of the success comes down to
the support that you get from owners and trainers.
¡°I¡¯ve had a
lot of success for Stephen Gray but Mark Walker, Bruce Marsh, Steven
Burridge, Cliff Brown and Douglas Dragon have also been there as well.¡±
Burridge
supplied Duric with two of his winners for the night ¨C
Sinthree in the opener and Black Ice.
The victory
of Black Ice had Burridge thinking of grander plans and he may now set
the gelding for the Four-Year-Old Series in the middle of the year.
Black
Ice makes it a big night for Vlad Duric providing him his fourth winner.
¡°I was a little concerned in that he had 57.5kg and
they weren¡¯t winning from back in the field,¡± said Burridge.
¡°He was off the bit and looked to be struggling before
the turn, but once he leveled out he had them covered at the furlong
(200m) and in the end it was a good win.
¡°I¡¯ve probably now got to
think about the Four-Year-Old Series with him. He¡¯s
only a four-year-old once and it¡¯s worth thinking
about.
¡°He hasn¡¯t raced past 1400m
previously but he gets that alright, so I might have to try him at a mile
(1600m) and go from there.¡±
Black Ice was having only
his 15th start in Singapore and
landed his sixth victory for the Burridge stable.
¡°He keeps raising the bar,¡±
said Burridge. ¡°It may be time that we raise the
bar with him.¡±
Duric said Black Ice has a
few niggling problems that Burridge has to work hard at overcoming, but
when he¡¯s feeling well he is a horse with loads
of ability.
¡°Full marks must go to Steve and the team for the work
they put into this horse,¡± said Duric.
¡°He has a few problems but when everything is right he
has a nice turn of foot which he showed out there tonight.
¡°I don¡¯t know whether he is up
to the top four-year-olds, but placed right Steve will have a lot of fun
with him.¡±
By
Mugharreb from the General Nediym mare Lady Migaloo, Black Ice has won
around $280,000 for the Black Ice Stable.
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