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The every improving Cordoba proved ultra impressive when keeping his unbeaten record in-tact when saluting narrowly at Singapore on Sunday.
Fifty metres out, Cordoba was all but heading straight for his first taste of defeat, but jockey Alan Munro conjured up that signature riding style of his that has seen him claim many last-gasp victories from such seemingly impossible positions to once again save the day - and maintain the English-bred four-year-old’s unbeaten record by the skin of his teeth.
Indeed, backers of the $13 favourite were sweating buckets when Indicio (Lisa Allpress) at that point surged to a lead that looked to have settled the race while Cordoba, who had all along been buried on the rails in midfield by the English Derby-winning jockey, was desperately trying to recover from precious seconds wasted while threading a needle through traffic from the point of turn.
The Exceed And Excel four-year-old had first ducked to the inside in search of daylight, but then switched across heels to the outside. In the meantime, Indicio had grabbed race-leader Two M And M (David Flores) and going full-bore for the finishing line while Captivate (Manoel Nunes) was also steaming home on the outside.
All hopes looked dashed to the ground for the favourite, but Cordoba did not shirk at the task at hand, and responding to Munro’s riding, whittled down the margin with every stride. The crowd and his legion of fans held their collective breath, and in a desperate lunge at the post, Cordoba got up by the barest of magins.
Indicio, who has not won for almost a year to the day (31 March 2013), would have felt stiff after coming so close to that return to the winner’s circle. Captivate missed second spot by a neck while Empire Bay (Noh Senari), who had been up with the pace from the outset, stuck on well for fourth another half-a-length away. The winning time was 1min 21.89secs for the 1400m of the $75,000 Big Maverick 2008 Stakes Class 3 race.
While such a stirring blanket finish has kept everybody on the edge of their seats, winning trainer David Hill was his usual composed self at the post-race debrief.
“He got into a bit of a mess in the home straight. Alan wanted to go to the inside and then he changed his mind and went to the outside,” said the British conditioner.
“I think if he had stayed on the inside, he would have won by a bigger margin, but what matters is he’s won.
“This is the good way to ride him. I’m happy Alan rode him like that as he’s a better horse when he is held up.
“Alan didn’t have any other choice anyway. He had to make him sit longer.
“But I thought we would lose when Indicio got the first run. I thought Captivate would win as he was finishing the strongest on the outside.
“But my horse has a hell of a turn of foot and he got there right at the death.”
Hill said while the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby remained Cordoba's principal objective, he would still give him a few runs in similar Class 2 company, but would not dodge a feature race if the right one pops up along the way.
“I don’t have anything special for him at this stage. The Derby is still his main target,” said Hill.
“I will look at the programme to see what is available, probably a Class 2 race, but if nothing else comes up, I may go for one of those Group races.”
Munro said he was worried seven furlongs would be too short, but his sheer class won the race, albeit by a slender margin.
“He’s a very good stayer obviously and I thought the 1400m would be too short,” he said.
“I had a bit to do in the home straight, but luckily he was good enough to win the race.
“He’s got a massive future here and he will definitely get better as he goes over 1800m-2000m.”
Cordoba now boasts a flattering record of four wins from as many starts for stakes earnings in excess of $130,000 for the Season Stable.