3 minute read
Trainer Shane Baertschiger joked Flak Jacket had done well to pick up another win at an age when he should be picking up his CPF cheque instead.
For non-Singaporeans not used to that acronym, CPF is short for Central Provident Fund, a sum contributed by both employer and employee in Singapore and withdrawn at retirement. It is the equivalent of superannuation in Australia.
But Australian-born Baertschiger has spent such a long time in Singapore – since his teens when assisting his father Don during the Bukit Timah days in the late 90s – that he would probably be more familiar with such local terms than those from Down Under.
More pointedly, he knows old stager Flak Jacket inside out, even if there was nothing to shout about the Dane Shadow eight-year-old’s form of late.
Dropping Geoff Grimish’s stalwart sprinter down to the $80,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1000m was the spark Baertschiger thought might rejuvenate him – and it did.
Up on the pace after coming across from his sticky barrier No 9, Flak Jacket ($91) surprisingly looked a live contender as race-leader Cousteau (Ng Choon Kiat) started to give way inside the last 200m.
Even after taking care of Cousteau, Flak Jacket (John Powell) still had another three challengers right on his hammer. Elite Power (Zawari Razali), Yabadabadoo (Vlad Duric) and Mighty Conqueror (Troy See) proved hard to shrug off, but Flak Jacket gave his younger rivals a galloping lesson to fall in by three-quarter length from Elite Power.
Yabadabadoo was third another neck away with Mighty Conqueror fourth another half-a-length away. The winning time was 59.23 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
“He hasn’t been in a Class 3 race for more than a year. He was back in grade tonight, and it worked out well,” said Baertschiger.
“He’s a horse who actually started off in Polytrack races, then raced on turf and has been coming back on Polytrack of late.
“He had a little sharpen-up this morning and here he is winning when he should be collecting his CPF.
“But jokes aside, he will keep running as long as he’s sound. He’s 100% genuine and has no big issues.”
Powell was on the same page as Baertschiger that Flak Jacket was not a horse you could bet the farm on given his advanced age, but his youthful ability does pop up once in a while.
“He’s running like a two-year-old, but he’s not a horse you can follow every time,” said the Australian rider.
“But every now and then, he’s the type of horse who can win a race.”
With that fifth win, Flak Jacket’s stakes earnings are just a few couple of thousands shy off the half-million mark for Mr Grimish.