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Promising sprinter-miler One More Minute made a winning
comeback which aptly complemented the sensational success enjoyed by his
trainer-owner team in Dubai on
Thursday.
The Iglesia four-year-old¡¯s trainer Steven Burridge and
prominent owner Dr Tan Kai Chah combined to saddle Dark Matter to a
resounding win for Singapore in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial over 1400m at
Meydan.
Burridge¡¯s first foray at the Dubai Racing Carnival also saw
another one of his runners, Apache Crown, finish fourth in a 1200m handicap
over the straight course on turf.
One More Minute (Matt Kellady)
storms home to take Race 8 on Friday night.
With Burridge still in Dubai to oversee the preparation of the
pair as well as Captain Obvious and Ip Man who will make their debut in the
Emirates sheikdom next week, his wife Julie was on hand to lead in One More
Minute ($56) who had jockey Matthew Kellady in the saddle in the $75,000 Class
3 race over 1200m on Friday night.
The British horsewoman was of course delighted the stable was
enjoying a fruitful week both at home and on other shores.
¡°It was great to see Dark Matter win in Dubai and
now this,¡± said Burridge.
¡°I just saw Dark Matter¡¯s race on Facebook. It was sensational.
¡°The other two horses are also in good shape and will be
racing next week. Captain Obvious is flying and if he goes as well as he
did here, he will break their hearts.
¡°Ip Man was a little more behind among the four but he has
picked up nicely and we expect him to run well too.¡±
Jockeys Oscar Chavez and Benny Woodworth fly to Dubai on
Tuesday to take the ride Ip Man and Captain Obvious next Friday and
Saturday respectively.
While those two local hoops will try and fly the Singapore high
next week (Dark Matter was ridden by Emirates-based Irish jockey Ted Durcan
on Thursday), Kellady was happy to savour his win on One More Minute on
local soil.
The win had a taste of redemption to the jockey who was One
More Minute¡¯s partner at his winning debut but was later replaced by Joao
Moreira after he rode him to second at his next start.
¡°I like this horse and it¡¯s nice to be back a winner on him,¡±
said the Ipoh-born hoop.
¡°He was always travelling very relaxed throughout. I just put
him where he was comfortable.
¡°In the home straight, I took him to the outside. He took a
while to hit top gear, but once he did, he just flew in.
¡°It¡¯s nice for Steven, Dr Tan and the boys to get another
winner here after we won in Dubai.
¡°I¡¯d also like to thank Dr Tan for putting me back on his
horse. I¡¯ve proven I can win on him.¡±
One More Minute settled worse than midfield before finishing
the best on the outside to beat Rising Expectation (Benny Woodworth) by
half-a-length with debutant Damo (Barend Vorster) third another
half-a-length away. One More Minute, who was recording his fourth win from
six starts for prizemoney in excess of $160,000, ran the 1200m on Short
Course in 1min 11.59secs.
The Burridge team¡¯s night got even better when short-priced
favourite ($7) Shuttle Man scored at debut in the next race, the $65,000
Restricted Maiden (2&3YO) race over 1200m, romping in by more than
seven lengths from Don Inaki (Barend Vorster).
Shuttle Man¡¯s winning time was 0.02 faster than his stablemate
One More Minute - 1min 11.57secs.
The impressive win by the Big Valley Stable-owned Taiki
Shuttle three-year-old also handed Moreira a winning treble to put him right
on the heels of leader Danny Beasley. Moreira is on six winners, one short
of Beasley, who scored a solitary win with Nandowra in Race 3.
Moreira, who scored earlier with Wolfsbane and Carbon
Copy, predicted a bright future for the Japanese-bred three-year-old
and is looking forward to sticking with the gelding throughout the year.
¡°He looks to have a very good future,¡± said Moreira. ¡°Steven
Burridge and his team did a very good job preparing the horse and I just
had to finish the job.
¡°I¡¯m really looking forward to sticking with him throughout
the year.
¡°He¡¯s got a very long stride and he does it so easily. Riding
him I think he will have no trouble getting over a longer distance.
¡°He also posted a pretty good time at his first start and
there is still quite a bit of improvement to come from him.¡±
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