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War Affair cemented his status as Singapore’s undisputed two-year-old champion after he landed Sunday’s Group 3 Juvenile Championship (1200m) two months after he won the only other juvenile feature at Kranji, the Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m).
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
Despite resuming from a 72-day break after his resounding win in the last Leg of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe series on May 17 and running up against some of the finest two-year-olds (five last-start winners from the other seven), the New Zealand-bred by O’Reilly had garnered plenty of confidence in the market, being backed down to the very short odds of $7, especially with regular partner Joao Moreira up.
Though the result went to script, a weakening War Affair nearly saw his colours lowered by second favourite Desert Fox (Alan Munro) who flew home late on the outside to, however, fall short by a head.
Probably a little on the underdone side after such a long spell, War Affair noticeably shortened strides in the final 100m after coming off a cosy trail in third on the fence to hit the front at the 400m.
Peace No War (Manoel Nunes), who had led from the outset was coming under siege upon straightening with Rappor (Soo Khoon Beng), who had tracked him up, trying to draw level, but unable to quite match up.
War Affair, on the other hand, burst past with relative ease before pulling away to what many thought would lead to another dominant victory, but his lack of race fitness started to tell when he could not quite break away from the pack.
From behind, Desert Fox, who had enjoyed a quiet trail on the rails, was suddenly sprouting wings once Munro angled him out in the clear as he set sail after the hot favourite, but the winning post arrived on time for War Affair who dug deep to become the second horse after Mr Big (2011) to complete the Aushorse Golden Horseshoe-Juvenile Championship double.
War Affair fell in with a head to spare from Desert Fox with Peace No War holding on for third another length away. The winning time was 1min 10.29secs.
Silver Dollar (John Powell) looked like he was not making much headway at the 300m, but made a late sudden dash to run fourth another 1 ½ lengths away.
Trainer Mark Walker was breathing a huge sigh of relief after the photo finish swung in his favour by a slender margin.
“After his last win, we have kept him fresh and he even trialled nicely two weeks ago,” said the Kiwi mentor.
“He might have switched off in the last bit, though. The second horse was coming pretty quickly, but luckily he held on.
“He’s a typical New Zealand horse who came to us from Karaka and it’s David Ellis (Te Akau Racing supremo) who bought him.
“Whatever he did today, he will just keep improving as a racehorse. He’s probably looking for 1400m or 1600m now.”
Moreira admitted he might have sent War Affair to the lead a touch too soon, but his sheer courage saw him prevail for a well-deserved success.
“He’s such a nice horse. He put himself in the right spot throughout the race,” said the Brazilian jockey.
“He was probably a little too fresh today and that’s why we were closer to the pace
“I think I may have gone in front too soon, but he was going so well that I just had to let him go. He lost his concentration a little bit in the last 100m, and the other horse coming on the outside was flashing home.
“But he held on very well in the end. I am confident he can step up in distance in his future races.
“He’s clearly the best two-year-old and I’m just so lucky to be his rider.”
War Affair has now recorded three wins from four starts for stakes earnings in excess of $330,000 for the Warplan Racing Stable.
Trainer Michael Freedman, who is responsible for runner-ups Desert Fox and Peace No War, said he was proud of his duo's runs.
"I feel a bit stiff, but they've both done me very proud," said Freedman. "The pace was too hard and probably didn't suit Peace No War.
"Desert Fox just missed out, but has proven yet again he's a very good horse we can certainly count on in the future."