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Boy wins the Golden Horseshoe in Great style

3 minute read

Greatham Boy proved that trainer Michael Clements was spot on about his ability on the turf after the talented sprinter put his two-year-old rivals to the sword where it mattered in the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe (1200m) on Sunday.

GREATHAM BOY winning the SINGAPORE GOLDEN HORSESHOE GROUP 3
GREATHAM BOY winning the SINGAPORE GOLDEN HORSESHOE GROUP 3 Picture: Singapore Turf Club

Jumping on terms in the only feature race for juveniles in Singapore, Greatham Boy  (Daniel Moor) settled in third behind Big Max (Bruno Queiroz) and Cheerful Baby (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) in the full field of 16.

Turning for home, Moor upped the ante on the $50 shot and the Stratosphere two-year-old surged to the front alongside Big Max. Favourite Silo (Bernardo Pinheiro), who coursed out four-wide without cover in the running and Fire (Hugh Bowman) hurried home, but they were too late.

Greatham Boy fended off Silo by a length while Artillery (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) stormed home on the outside another half-a-length away. Bakeel (Manoel Nunes) ran another head away in fourth.

The winning time was 1 min 9.64secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.

While his two other runners, June and Pacific Commander finished eighth and 12th in the race respectively, Clements had great hopes on the speedy Greatham Boy, who won on debut at his last start in a Restricted Maiden race (1100m) on the Polytrack on June 17, before Sunday.

While he was the half-brother to the 2020 Singapore champion trainer's retired mare Celavi, who won the 2021 Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) and all her other seven wins on the alternate surface in Singapore, Clements believed that Greatham Boy was no one-trick pony, and he could outsprint the other "babies".

The win proved that he was right in his assessment.

"He (Greatham Boy) did great first-up on the Polytrack. Celavi raced a lot on the Polytrack too but he's (Greatham Boy) showed that he's got it on the turf," said the Zimbabwean-born conditioner of his first win in the reinstated two-year-old feature race.

"He showed us a lot of quality from the beginning and also in his trials in Australia and here.

"He's a horse that's very focused right from the beginning. He's smart.

"Daniel did all the work and trialled on him initially. He would have ridden him first-up but he (Greatham Boy) only carried 50 kilos then, but he's been set to ride the horse from the start."

Besides Greatham Boy, Clements also booted home two other winners, Pacific Warrior ($14) in the $50,000 Jupiter Gold 2018 Stakes, a Class 4 Division 1 race (1400m) and Pacific Emperor ($11) in the $85,000 Spalato 2014 Stakes, a Class 2 race (1400m).

Clements has now turned the tables on trainer Jason Ong, who took home one winner in So Hi Class ($38) on Sunday. He now sits on top of the trainers' log on 30 wins.

Moor was delighted to bid farewell to Kranji fans with a winner at his last meeting here, and in the Singapore Golden Horseshoe for good measure. The Australian jockey will return home with a good impression of Greatham Boy.

"He's a horse with good quality and he proved his worth today," said Moor, who wrapped up his current three-month stint in Singapore with nine winners.

"Everything went as planned in the race. We bounced well and rested in a nice one-one (position). He came from completely off the bridle which I was rapt with but he did not overdo it at all and had a good sustained run.

"He can run the 1400m. I was really taken by how he completely switched off even without cover, so hopefully, we can get through to the next season and he can run in good races."

With two wins in as many starts, Greatham Boy has taken his earnings to a tick under $100,000 in prizemoney for the Greatham Boy Stable.


Singapore Turf Club

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