Clean Sweep

​Classy three-year-old War Affair made it a perfect three-act affair in the new More Magic 3YO Championship series when he again showcased the wide array of his exciting qualities to land the $150,000 Group 3 Magic Millions 2013 More Magic 3YO Championship (1600m) on Sunday.

Already winner of the first two Legs, the Premier Racing Partnerships Stakes (1200m) and the Newgate Farm Stakes (1400m), the son of O'Reilly was justifiably considered as the horse to beat, even if two new elements were rising on his path to the Triple Crown - a first test over a mile and the very smart Daniel, an unknown foe given the two have never faced off before.

As suspected, the first query turned out to be a non-issue. If anything, War Affair showed he could be looking for more ground - an opinion expressed by his trainer Mark Walker at the post-win interviews after he earmarked the Group 1 Raffles Cup over 1800m in two weeks' time as a surprise target.

War Affair (Joao Moreira) reels in Daniel (Corey Brown) to land the feature 3YO race on Sunday.

The natural progression would have been a well-earned break for a tilt towards the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge next year, but Walker has thrown in more intrigue in the equation with the revelation of a potential diversion to an even bigger prize in two weeks' time.

“If he pulls up extremely well, I may set him for the Raffles Cup or else it will be the Three-Year-Old Series next year,” said Walker.

“The thing about this horse is he keeps improving all the time. Every time we ask him, he just goes up a bit more.  There was a bit of a scare at the home turn, but he dug deep and was still able to win. He's really a fantastic horse.

“When Joao elected to ride War Affair instead of Daniel, I took a line through Joao. He doesn't do anything wrong.

“Joao actually told me after the race that he did not really go full bore at him in the last bit. That tells me he still had plenty left in the tank and that's why I think the Raffles Cup would be ideal for him, but we'll see.”

The win also gave Moreira the perfect Group-winning send-off as he was at his last Singapore meeting before he flies to Hong Kong after Sunday's last race to continue his stupendous riding career there.

“Winning a Group race at my last day in Singapore means a lot to me, but even more so after I've done it on this horse as I've ridden him at all his seven starts here for six wins,” said the mercurial Brazilian jockey.

"He's clearly the best three-year-old around and he's shown it again today. We had a beautiful run throughout but he didn't have much luck at the top of the straight.

“As we tried to shift out to the outside for our run, John Powell's horse pushed us out even wider. That made him lose his balance, but he recovered very well.

“I always had great confidence he would go after Daniel. I just had to guide him in the right direction.  I was actually not digging that deep into him. He just did it all by himself and even though I know Daniel is a very good horse, we were always going to catch him.

“It was my turn to beat Corey after he got me last Friday on Lord Brompton (Moreira ran second on Tom) but we're good friends and it was all in good sporting spirit.”

Trainer Mark Walker, owner Madam Pam Sew Chaw and jockey Joao Moreira at their third visit
at the presentation dais during the More Magic 3YO Championship series.

Moreira concurred with Walker that War Affair should be able to see out the 1800m trip of the Raffles Cup but will of course not be able to test the theory come raceday.

“I think he will be a good ride for the Raffles Cup. He can definitely stay,” he said.

“I take this opportunity to thank the connections for having put me on such a good horse. He has the potential of going all the way to the top here.  I wish them all the best with him and whoever will ride him in the Raffles Cup and his future races.”

With that sixth success, War Affair, who cost only NZ$70,000 as a yearling when bought (at Karaka) by Walker's main supporter David Ellis of Te Akau Racing, has now amassed more than $520,000 in stakes earnings.

Credit - Singapore Turf Club