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Senor Don arrived in Singapore from Argentina with a reputation that he would be a serious player in Group races over a mile or further, but he has now added a 1200m win to his resume on Sunday.
The Ricardo Le Grange-trained gelding was aimed at many feature races at Kranji that included a crack at the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m), the Singapore Guineas (1600m), the Group 2 Singapore Classic (1400m) in 2020, the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) and the Singapore Derby (1800m), as well as the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1600m) last year.
All of them were ran on the turf and ultimately, all unsuccessful.
His breeding (Argentina) suggested the Polytrack was always going to be his best surface. Given that a second placing in the 2020 Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes over the mile and his only two wins in Singapore were all over the mile and all on the Polytrack, it was a no-brainer that the trip and track was his caper.
But a very good recent trial form (second to Crystal Warrior on July 14) on the back of an eye-catching first-up run over 1100m on June 18 suggested that he could sprint.
Sent out at lukewarm odds of $37 in the $70,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1200m, jockey Bernardo Pinheiro made his intentions clear early by sending Senor Don to the front from gate six in what was somewhat of a surprise, given the expected leader, Crystal Warrior (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin), had drawn inside in gate three.
With Sure Will Do (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) on his flank and the in-form From The Navy (Mohd Zaki) and Crystal Warrior on his heels, Senor Don kicked heading into the straight but had to fight hard to hold the trio at bay.
From there – and given his penchant for longer trips – he was always going to be hard to pass but yet to the surprise of many, the afterburners were turned on at the 200m and the Senor Candy gelding romped in to win by four-and-a-half lengths.
In an open-betting affair, $26 race favourite Legend Of The Sun (Iskandar Rosman) ran on well to finish second with Big Tiger (Wong Chin Chuen) a neck away in third. Senor Don clocked 1 min 10.7secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack.
The win – after combining with King Louis in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1700m – was an early double for the Le Grange stable and for Pinheiro. The Brazilian hoop went on to score a treble after the Kuah Cheng Tee-trained Lion Spirit won the $30,000 Class 5 race over 1700m.
"I don't have words – I have been working very hard and learning a lot at trackwork every day and at the races every week," Pinheiro told racing presenter Scott Bailey after Senor Don's win.
"Thank you to all the trainers and owners who gave me lots of rides.
"I'm so happy with the winners and a double for Ricardo. I'm happy for him, the whole stable and the amazing team. They work very hard."
With three wins and three placings from 20 starts, Senor Don has now earned over $180,000 in prizemoney for the Chelsea Stable.
After Pinheiro, Blake Shinn takes out first hat-trick of wins in Singapore
Not be outdone, Blake Shinn showed why he is one of the world's best jockeys when he steered The August ($39) to a victory over race favourite Illustrious in the $70,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1200m.
Earlier, Shinn won on Fadaboy ($47) in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200m for trainer Donna Logan (see previous report) and $13 favourite Miracle in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race over 1200m for trainer Tim Fitzsimmons.
Pinheiro got the pick-up ride on $8 favourite Illustrious after jockey Vlad Duric could not make the weight. With the grey Illustrious missing the kick and having to work early to lead, Shinn made the decision to keep the pressure on and raced on his flank throughout.
A ding-dong battle ensued, and the pair fought tooth and nail in the entire straight with The August eventually winning by three-quarters of a length in 1 min 10.42secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack.
Shinn turned in a masterful ride which saw him shared the riding honours' on the day.
"The plan was to be third, fourth or fifth but we took advantage of a good jump," explained the in-transit hoop to racing presenter Pat Comerford post-race.
"Illustrious missed the start so I made him work up to my inside and we had that advantage from the get-go.
"Then I kept on applying a bit of pressure throughout without bringing my horse undone and he was strong and never going to lose in my opinion. It was a courageous and emphatic win."
Like Pinheiro, Shinn was also thankful to the trainer Jerome Tan for the support and also, the owners of the Raffles Racing Stable.
"Jerome obviously gave me a lot of support on the first day and Raffles Racing are a big supporter in Australasia, here in Singapore and around the world," he continued.
"So it's important to ride for these big stables that support world racing and it's great to get another winner for them today."
A winner of four races from 25 starts, The August has brought his stakes earnings to just under $200,000 for winning connections.
Worthy mentions on the card
In the jockeys' ranks, while a hat-trick is special, nothing beats your first winner in the saddle and Super Posh ($22) gave Singaporean apprentice jockey Jamil Sarwi a day he will never forget after he won the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1000m (see later report).
Malaysian apprentice jockey Ibrahim Mamat continued a very good start to his riding career when Prodigal gave him his third win from eleven rides in the $30,000 Class 5 race over 1400m.
In the training ranks, Logan continued her good runs with another double( Fadaboy and Super Posh). Meanwhile, Le Grange (King Louis and Senor Don) and Michael Clements (Prodigal and Greatham Girl) also knocked in doubles.
