3 minute read
Cliff Brown is no stranger to saddling up Singapore's best and he didn't have to wait long between drinks before he crowned a new superstar in Inferno.
Joining the trainer's ranks in 2008, Brown has enjoyed plenty of success, headed by Debt Collector (Debt Agent) who won five Group 1's for Brown between 2016 and 2018.
Star sprinter Zac Spirit also won two Lion City Cups in the year's prior with 2016 a stand-out season for Brown, notching up five Group 1 wins (Lion City Cup, Singapore Guineas, QE11 Cup, Kranji Mile & Raffles Cup).
At his peak Debt Collector was rated 113 by Timeform and the pronounced champion of Singapore.
He rounded out his career in Singapore in May 2019, with Inferno winning on debut just two months later.
Replacing a horse of Debt Collector's stature is never easy, though fast forward just 15 months and Brown again finds himself at the top of the tree.
Sunday's Lion City Cup was Inferno's biggest test, he had toyed with his own age group, but there was nowhere to hide against Singapore's best sprinters.
Drawn wide, he adopted his customary position towards the rear of the field, travelling strongly in the running line (three-wide).
Enjoying the fast tempo, Inferno just trucked along and looked to be bolting approaching the 500m — spoiler he was.
Pulling the widest on straightening, he just tanked up to them and quickly hit the front passing the 300m, racing away to score by 2.3L.
Not since Rocket Man in 2012 has a horse won the Lion City Cup by such a margin, emphasising Inferno's dominance.
Now before getting too carried away, Inferno is a long, long way off Rocket Man, but Sunday's performance does see him crowned Singapore's best.
Rated 113 by Timeform, it is the highest rated performance of any local horse since Debt Collector in March, 2017.
A winner of eight of his nine starts, suspect he still has more to come and is on track to eclipse his former stable star.
Since arriving in Singapore star sprinter Zac Spirit remains Brown's highest rated galloper (TF: 119), I would love to know whether he feels Inferno can eclipse that mark.
Inferno has improved with every run and Sunday's race was the first time we'd see him in a race run at a strong tempo.
Some horses struggle to adapt to this sudden change in conditions, he clearly didn't and gave us a glimpse at what is really under the bonnet, he toyed with them.
Where he heads now remains up in the air, but I doubt we will ever get even money about him again (unless he heads overseas).
He is in a different league, Singapore has its new superstar!