3 minute read

Iron Ruler turned up again in the $70,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1600m on Saturday after a year away from the winner’s circle.

The Michael Clements-trained six-year-old gelding last scored in a Class 4 race over the same trip and surface on February 19 last year.

This time, a small field and the mile on the Polytrack, as well as having the in-form jockey, Wong Chin Chuen on board all suggested that Iron Ruler was going to be more than competitive, but a top-heavy field had the son of Dissident almost unwanted in the betting ($65), albeit with only six runners heading to the start.

Last-start winner Vittoria Perfetta, Real Efecto and Pennywise had the majority of the punters' support but as often is the case with small fields, the race does not always pan out as they should.

Iron Ruler  jumped well from barrier three and he could have held an on-pace position or even led, but Wong wisely let the others jockey for position into the tight first bend with Pennywise (Calvin Habib) eventually leading on settling.

Vittoria Perfetta (Azhar Rasid) kept the pressure on Pennywise in the backstraight with Real Efecto (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) getting the perfect run one-back, one-out.

Wong eventually found himself back in second last in the running but got busy on Iron Ruler earlier than most at the 600m and made the winning move before a wide run into the straight.

That sweeping run had Iron Ruler hitting the front at the 300m but with some petrol used and Real Efecto  and Vittoria Perfetta  in for the fight, Wong had to get busy over the final furlong.

To his credit, Iron Ruler responded and while he could not kick away from the chasing pair, he held on comfortably by a neck over a game Real Efecto with a tiring Vittoria Perfetta another one-and-a-quarter lengths back in third.

The winning time was 1 min 39.13secs for the 1600m on the Polytrack and Iron Ruler's sixth win from 35 starts took his prizemoney to a shade over $274,000.

Clements – who also saddled Vittoria Perfetta and On Line in the six-horse field – was a little worried early, but was obviously more than happy with how the race panned out.

"I would have liked to be a little closer than that (in the running)," said Clements to racing presenter Scott Baily post race.

"He's (Iron Ruler) usually capable of holding a better position over this distance, but it was a small field so he didn't get too far back off them.

"I said to him (Wong) that the horse likes to get to the rail or likes an inside run and I thought he ran great.

"He's had a break and recently resumed with a couple of races short of his best (distance). We just had a couple of races to bring up his fitness to get him up over the mile.

"So he's more than ready for that now. He can be really effective on the Polytrack over the mile when he's in form and well, today is his day."

It has been a good start to the 2023 season for the stable and Clements was somewhat surprised by the early winners when quizzed by Bailey.

"January was a good month," said the 2020 Singapore champion trainer.

"We thought it could be a bit slower than what it was. We rested a lot of horses towards the end of last year so to have a good month of January was a bit of a bonus for us."

Wong was also very happy with the result.

"The instructions from the trainer was to jump and place him where he is happy," explained Wong.

"His speed out of the gate was good and I just let him find his own steam. The pace was quite solid even for the first 600m, but I was happy where I was.

"He switched off a bit mid-race and I was a bit worried but coming to the top of the straight, I knew he still got a lot of petrol and I need to go from there.

"When I started the engine, he just kept going.

"When I came to the last 200m, I thought it was too long to leave him alone in front and we got a bit lost and Real Efecto was coming on my inside.

"Luckily, we got there first."

In a happy postscript to the fall in the fourth race won by Benbo (see earlier report), Clements reported that his apprentice jockey Ibrahim Mamat was sore but seemed okay otherwise.

"He's up and walking and had a smile on his face," he reported.

"He was complaining about the chest pain and back pain, so he's on his way to the (Khoo Teck Puat) hospital to get (himself) checked."

Mariana Trench  ($38) and The Shadow ($35) took home two more wins for Clements afterwards, bringing his season tally to nine wins. He now sits on three wins ahead of trainers Tim Fitzsimmons and Jason Lim, who are currently tied in second place on the trainers' log.