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A gun ride by champion jockey Joao Moreira saw Bungae record back-to-back victories when he claimed the $55,000 Selangor Turf Club Open Benchmark 61 Stakes over 1800m on the Polytrack on Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
Well supported to return a $24 dividend, Bungae scored by a length-and-three-quarters from South Gate (A’Isisuhairi ‘Harry’ Kasim) with Smart Idea (Barend Vorster) a nose away third.
Bungae recorded a time of 1 min 54.23 secs for the 1800m journey.
Moreira had Bungae on the fence in sixth place from barrier nine as the field left the straight on the first occasion and went around just one horse in his pursuit of victory.
Caution (Tommy Chang) led the way from South Gate and Home Money Home (Sam Subien) into the back with Moreira saving every inch of ground in the run.
Coming to the turn Caution still held sway from South Gate with Bungae having improved his position on the fence to be in third position.
After straightening for the run home, Moreira was able to edge off the fence and into clear galloping room. After a struggle to the 200m mark Bungae then asserted his superiority under Moreira’s strong riding and drew clear at the finish to record a comfortable victory.
Trainer Cliff Brown was high in his praise for Moreira’s rail hugging ride on the four-time winner in Singapore.
“That was a great ride of Joao’s although I’m a little disappointed he had to go around one horse,” joked Brown.
“Seriously though you would not see a better ride than that. Coming from barrier nine he was on the fence at the post the first time and then he had to go around just one horse.
“I had a couple of the blokes from IRT watching the race with me and they couldn’t believe how quickly he was able to get to the fence from that draw.”
Brown said he hadn’t done anything special in turning Bungae’s form around apart from stepping him back up in distance.
He added that it was great to get another winner for Y S Nam of SYK Stable who has three horses in the stable – Bungae, Chun Doong and Shin Goong.
“I’d like to say we’ve done something special but that’s so far from the truth,” said Brown. “We’ve just been lucky enough to find his right races and he’s enjoyed the trip and he’s gone into his races very fit.
“It’s great to have this horse in top form and winning races for a good owner like Y S Nam who has been a good supporter of my stable.”
Moreira said he was confident of Bungae running a good race as the gelding felt in good order before the race.
“He gave me a good feel before the race and I was always confident he would run a good race,” said Moreira.
“Cliff had him turned out in great order and Cliff also didn’t have any special instructions before the race, saying to have him wherever he was comfortable in the run.
“I just put him on the fence and saved as much ground as I could and then the horse did the rest.”
A five-year-old Australian-bred by Testa Rossa from Golden Shoe, Bungae has now won four of his 24 starts in Singapore with a further five minor placings and around $140,000 in prizemoney for SYK Stable.
