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Promising Iglesia three-year-old One More Minute ran his rivals ragged in
the $65,000 Novice race over 1600m on Friday night to record his second win
in three starts.
Sent straight to the lead by first-time partner Joao Moreira,
the Hippocrates Stable-owned gelding carved out soft sectionals in front
before turning for home like the horse to run down.
Once Moreira slipped some reins, the race was all over bar the
shouting. The odds-on favourite ($8) quickened away to show his rivals a
clean pair of heels, going on to score by five lengths from Daring Junior
(Barend Vorster) with Born To Fly (Mark Ewe) third two lengths away. The
winning time was 1min 36.75secs for the 1600m on Short Course.
One More Minute (Joao Moreira) was
heads and shoulders above the rest on Friday.
Winning trainer Steven Burridge was suitably impressed with
the turn of foot unleashed by his young prot¨¦g¨¦ but still would not get too
carried away.
¡°They left him alone in front and he settled really good,¡±
said Burridge. ¡°Joao rode him a treat.
¡°There was nothing wrong with the way Matty (Kelllady) rode
him at his last run. He was just a bit stiff and on the short course, he
just missed out.
¡°I¡¯ll try and look for a couple of better races for him.
Nothing concrete, just take him through his class first.
¡°He¡¯s only a young horse and he has not raced against very
strong opposition yet.¡±
On the other hand, Moreira was waxing lyrical about Dr Tan Kai
Chah¡¯s new find.
¡°I¡¯ve ridden many winners this year, and I would rate this
horse as one of the best I¡¯ve ridden so far,¡± came the flattering comment
from the Brazilian ace.
¡°He had a soft lead in front and he still ran a very good
time. He finished his race off very strongly.
¡°He¡¯s got very big strides and he just kept lengthening up in
the home straight. I didn¡¯t have to pull the whip at all.
¡°Steven has done an amazing job with this horse. Thanks to him
and the owner for giving me the ride.¡±
One More Minute, who was purchased for $42,000 from the 2009
Magic Million Adelaide Yearling Sale, has already brought up earnings past
the $80,000 mark for his connections.
The win was the third leg of a winning treble scored in quick
succession by Moreira, who has now forged clear in the jockey¡¯s premiership
to 72 winners, 17 clear of Vlad Duric.
Burridge later went on to saddle a double when honest stayer
Hint bagged the $95,000 Open Benchmark 89 race over 2000m. The win
incidentally brought an end to a long run of outs for jockey V Sivan whose
last win came aboard Qualitase on April 22.
Settled at the rear, Hint (x Reset) was peeled out wide for
his run at the 800m and, circling the small nine-horse field, he kept his
momentum going to hit the front at the 300m. Well driven by Sivan, Hint
($24) rallied gamely to score by half-a-length from Martial Art (Moreira)
with Steadfast Warrior (Olivier Placais) third another half-a-length away.
The winning time was 2min 4.62secs.
¡°It¡¯s been too long between drinks,¡± said Sivan. ¡°It¡¯s hard
work to get good rides nowadays.
¡°I work really hard ¨C five days a week at trackwork and it¡¯s
nice to ride a winner after so long.
¡°That horse was always travelling so relaxed for me at the
back, but I moved early because I didn¡¯t want him to come out too wide at
the home turn.
¡°He turned a bit tight but he kept hitting the line once I got
him going. Nice horse.¡±
Burridge said the Arexevan Racing Stable-owned galloper has
hit his straps since he was gelded last year in June.
¡°He¡¯s become a lot more solid since we gelded him. The pull in
weights helped him tonight and he¡¯s done a good job,¡± said Burridge.
¡°At his last run, he ran second to King Faalcon and we were
expecting another good run for him.
¡°How far he¡¯ll go, we never know. Look, the Gold Cup is a
long-range plan, but if he gets in with a small weight, who knows?¡±
The $1.35 million Group 1 Longines Singapore Gold Cup is the
country¡¯s premier handicap race (2200m) and will be run on November 13.
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