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Class prevailed in the Group 3 Yew Tee Classic Stakes when odds-on favourite City Lad raced away to a well-deserved first Group success on Friday night.
Prepared by trainer Desmond Koh, the Elusive City five-year-old has run at the highest level at Kranji, the latest being the $3 million Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m) where he, however, found the company too rich - pretty much the same story at his other Group 1 raids.
But Fridays’ feature was certainly easier pickings for the previous five-time winner, whose last victory dated almost two years old (August 19, 2012) and he did not miss out on the chance of restoring some gloss to his resume.
With jockey Manoel Nunes in white-hot form (he rode three winners earlier – Snitzel Spirit, Big Harvest and Sand Lane - before adding two more in the last two aboard Danny and Reach For The Sun), City Lad had the race at his mercy when he came off his third spot to launch his run at the top of the straight.
As leader Dancing Tsuru (Danny Beasley) floundered, City Lad drew on terms with the next in line, Tangible Assets (Alan Munro) before pulling away effortlessly. Blue Lion (Matthew Kellady) and Fat Kiddy (Sam Subian) gave chase but City Lad was going further ahead.
The race looked all sewn up until the $6 favourite gave a bit of a scare when he started to hang out badly at the 200m. Blue Lion and Fat Kiddy smelled blood as they were suddenly presented with a better shot at closing the gap, but Nunes still had a lapful under him as City Lad maintained a comfortable margin to score by 3 ¼ lengths from Blue Lion. Fat Kiddy, a Class 4 galloper at his last start, ran a creditable third another 2 ¾ lengths away.
The winning time was 1min 47.82secs.
Nunes, who was at his second Yew Tee Classic Stakes triumph having won aboard Nandowra last year and was coming off his first Group 1 win with Spalato in the Patron’s Bowl only two weeks ago, said he never doubted his mount could see out the nine-furlong trip despite the queries raised in some quarters.
“If I could get him to relax, I was always confident he would see out the trip,” said the Brazilian jockey.
“I was lucky to get a nice spot behind the two leaders, Beasley’s horse (Dancing Tsuru) and Munro’s (Tangible Assets) and my horse was always travelling very relaxed.
“He did look a bit lost when he hit the front. I think it was because he didn’t have any horse to chase, but he kept hitting the line well and everything worked out perfect for us.”
The Yew Tee Classic Stakes was Koh’s fifth silverware in his 11 years as a trainer at Kranji, with his biggest win coming in the 2012 Emirates Singapore Derby with Chase Me, the same horse who gave him his last “black type” win when he landed the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy two weeks later.
It’s been a long time between drinks in feature wins since, but City Lad has certainly quenched his thirst on Friday.
Toasting with a glass of champagne after the win, Koh agreed with Nunes that the race panned out the way they had scripted, but he said a race is never won on paper, but on the track.
“He was the class horse in the field, but anything can happen in horse racing. You can’t be too complacent,” said the Singaporean handler.
“Yes, the field was not overly strong, but I never underestimate my opponents. Still, Nunes gave him a beautiful ride and I was happy to see him in third behind the pace.
“He can overrace at times, but tonight, he was relaxed throughout the race. I was a bit worried when he drifted out under pressure as he’s never done this before, but luckily it didn’t cost him the race.”
Koh said he had not mapped out any plans for City Lad, even though the usual classics like the Panasonic Kranji Mile (1600m) and Raffles Cup (1800m) could be legitimate targets down the road in October.
“I’ll see how he pulls up first. It’s a bit too soon to plan so far ahead,” he said.