Winning Singapore Weekend

Te Akau Singapore trainer Mark Walker extended his stranglehold on the Singapore Trainers' Premiership with two further wins this past weekend - Prince Pegasus prevailed for his Singapore connections on Friday while on Sunday it was the turn of Red Rover for his New Zealand owners ... the Singapore Turf Club reports:

A sluggish start was not enough to thwart Red Rover's bid in racking up a second consecutive win in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1000m on Sunday.

While the O'Reilly five-year-old jumped on terms at his maiden win in a 1000m speed dash at the beginning of August, he left the gates a touch in arrears this time around.

But Azhar Ismail, who has partnered the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable-owned galloper at all his previous three runs, did not panic and rode him with supreme confidence.

With the brisk pace set by Sierra Conqueror (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) at the head of affairs, the experienced veteran Malaysian jockey didn't bustle Red Rover up to make up for the ground conceded at barrier rise.

Instead, he allowed his mount to stride up into a middle berth where he could get a midrace breather before giving him the office upon straightening.

The race was indeed all over Red Rover once the dynamic performer powered to the line from the 300m, easing down close home to an uncontested victory.

Snip (Benny Woodworth) took second place three lengths away with Sierra Conqueror third another neck away. The winning time was 58.85secs for the 1000m on the Polytrack.

“The horse was already a proven winner at his last start. Today, he was coming back from a spell and was a bit fresh,” said Azhar.

“But he was not that good at the start, he was a bit slow. Because I know him very well, I know he will respond in the straight. He's actually better off ridden off the pace.”

With trainer Mark Walker away at the Magic Millions 2YO in Training Sale at the Gold Coast, assistant-trainer Gus Clutterbuck was on hand to lead in their 69th winner and strengthen up their grip on a third title. With 14 meetings left in the season and a margin of 21 winners on Michael Clements, it also looks like all over Red Rover for those who think they can stop his march towards a third title.

“The horse came good from a break and has quickly come back to form. Azhar rode him good as well,” said Clutterbuck.

“He's another nice New Zealand-bred.”

Red Rover has now taken his record to two wins, one second and one third from four starts for prizemoney closing in on the $70,000 mark for the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable.

S/No	Trainer Name	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Unplaced	Total Runners	Strike Rate (%)
1	M WALKER	69	64	58	55	347	593	11.64
2	M CLEMENTS	48	36	35	25	210	354	13.56
3	S BAERTSCHIGER	46	26	33	24	244	373	12.33
4	D MEAGHER	41	41	34	43	160	319	12.85
5	C BROWN	41	36	26	24	187	314	13.06
6	DL FREEDMAN	34	49	45	43	181	352	9.66
7	HW TAN	27	31	26	22	259	365	7.40
8	S BURRIDGE	27	21	29	22	176	275	9.82
9	J SAIMEE	26	25	16	20	215	302	8.61
10	S GRAY	25	30	36	36	231	358	6.98
11	D LOGAN	25	26	23	18	144	236	10.59
12	H TAKAOKA	23	21	25	29	204	302	7.62
13	J PETERS	22	28	30	21	161	262	8.40
14	L DRAGON	21	12	23	17	101	174	12.07
15	R LE GRANGE	20	20	21	27	151	239	8.37
16	KY YOUNG	20	17	21	29	251	338	5.92
17	J O'HARA	19	20	21	24	187	271	7.01
18	KS TAN	15	20	18	22	163	238	6.30
19	RB MARSH	13	23	12	24	180	252	5.16
20	CT KUAH	13	19	16	15	166	229	5.68

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