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Leading jockey Joao Moreira was the headline act at the meeting sponsored
by the Singapore Press Holdings when he took out both The New Paper Trophy
and Shin Min Cup.
The Brazilian hoop first rode Just Dashing to victory in the
$55,000 Class 4 race over 1400m bankrolled by the English tabloid, the only
Singapore daily to carry independent racing pages before he was back in the
news two races later, steering Shaolin Soldier to victory in the Chinese
daily-sponsored race, a $75,000 Class 3 race over 1200m.
Moreira was as usual deflecting all praises towards the
trainers of the two victors ¨C Cliff Brown (Just Dashing) and Steven
Burridge (Shaolin Soldier) ¨C but said scoring a double in the two
highlights of the night certainly gave him a buzz.
Joao Moreira brings up the double
by winning aboard Shaolin Soldier in the
Shin Min Cup on Friday night.
¡°It¡¯s always nice to ride winners, and to make it in the two
main races of the night is extra special,¡± said Moreira.
¡°Again, all credit to the trainers for preparing their horses
very well for the two races. I am just the lucky jockey.¡±
Moreira was particularly pleased of his win aboard Shaolin
Soldier as he had scored aboard two of his three previous wins.
¡°I know the horse as I¡¯ve won twice on him. Steve and I
discussed and we thought it¡¯d be best to ride him back and let him settle
in his strides,¡± said Moreira.
¡°When I asked him
for an effort, he quickened quite well and got there on time.¡±
Mr Pan Cheng Lui, Editor of the Shin Min Daily News,
trainer Steven Burridge,
jockey
Joao Moreira and owner K L Chua show off the trophies following the
Shin Min
Cup.
Shaolin Soldier, a five-year-old gelding by Exceed And Excel,
was a previous Melbourne galloper
trained by David Hayes and came to Burridge¡¯s yard on the recommendation of
just-departed jockey Glen Boss.
¡°It¡¯s Bossy who recommended this horse to us. He won a Maiden
on him in Australia,¡±
said Burridge.
¡°Bossy rode him a few times here and nearly fell off him at
the last time he rode him.
¡°He¡¯s a horse that can¡¯t carry a lot of weight and has a very
short sharp run. That¡¯s why I told Joao to ride him cold and it paid off.
¡°Besides Joao rode him before and knows the horse. He rated
him beautifully.
¡°Look, the horse is no world-beater but on his day he can be
pretty useful. It was a pretty competitive field.
¡°He also likes the cut in the ground ¨C it certainly builds up
his confidence.¡±
Raced by the Happiness Come Stable, Shaolin Soldier ($47) came
off a ground-saving ride on the rails in midfield to get the measure of
Swagger (Barend Vorster) who fought on bravely to hold on for second by
half-a-length. Third was Macau (Vlad
Duric) a nose away. The winning time was 1min 12.14secs.
Hot favourite ($10) Cash Dot Com (Saimee Jumaat) was the big
flop of the race, tailing off a distant last of the 13 runners. After being
caught three wide for most of the way, Cash Dot Com, who was at his first
run over grass, had had enough at the top of the straight, fading quickly
to disappear out of the race.
The vets found Cash Dot Com to have a respiratory condition after the race.
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