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Reinvigorated stayer Hint is shaping up as a live
lightweight chance for the Singapore Gold Cup after he scored an
impressive come-from-behind win first-up on Sunday.
Ridden by leading apprentice Shafiq Rusof, the Reset
six-year-old, who had not raced since his last-start win under V Sivan
over 2000m in a Benchmark 89 race on July 29, was ahead of only runner
(Cape Treasure) at the 900m mark of the $75,000 Class 3 Singapore Botanic
Gardens Handicap (1600m), but did an amazing job to pass 11 runners one
after another from the 900m before scoring by a neck from $12 favourite
Lizarre (Barend Vorster) with Flaneur (Sivan) third another half-a-length
away.
The strong tempo of the race aided by the apprentice¡¯s
three-kilo claim were, according to trainer Steven Burridge, the key
ingredients to the slashing win.
Shafiq Rusof brings Hint home
with a powerful finish to score over Lizarre
(Barend Vorster) and Flaneur (V Sivan) back on the fence.
¡°We put the apprentice on as he was resuming from a spell.
We didn¡¯t want to punish him with too heavy an impost first-up,¡± said
Burridge.
¡°He¡¯s the kind of horse who does not carry a lot of
condition as he is such a light-framed individual. He was only one kilo
up from his last win.
¡°But he¡¯s really strengthened up since we gelded him. He
went up to Malaysia and
has come back a different horse.
¡°He¡¯s done a good job and it looks like the Gold Cup may be
the next race for him now.¡±
Run on November 13, the Group 1 Longines Singapore Gold Cup
over 2200m is the premier handicap race on the local racing calendar.
Shafiq said Hint was a little one-paced at the rear but once
he started to call upon him, he responded very well to his riding.
¡°He¡¯s a very nice stayer. I wanted him to race midfield but
he got a bit crowded and I had no choice but to ease him and pull him to
the back,¡± said Shafiq.
¡°He was a little one-paced but once I clicked him up for his
run, he started to move very nicely. He worked to the line very well.¡±
Hint¡¯s win was greeted by a rapturous reception from the
Arexevan Racing Stable, but none louder than one of the shareholders, Mr
Robert Sim, who screamed with delight when the payout for the quartet bet
was semaphored - $25,228.
¡°We wanted Sivan to ride him if he was on a low weight, but
he carried the top weight and we put an apprentice on instead,¡± said the
happy Australian.
¡°I put Sivan¡¯s horse (Flaneur) in my quartet and he ran
third! Thanks mate - and you¡¯ll get to ride Hint next time.¡±
One of the best away, Flaneur ($275) was the early leader
before allowing a hard-pulling Benji¡¯s Empire (Danny Beasley) to bolt
away on his own. Flaneur moved up on straightening up to fight out the
finish with Lizarre but neither could contain Hint's superior
finish while Aspen Heights (Vlad Duric) did his best work to finish
fourth another length away.
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