3 minute read

Speedy mare Gingerella rounded out another prolific night at the office for two-time Singapore champion jockey Vlad Duric on Friday.

The Australian rider has hit a purple patch of form in the last couple of weeks. Just last Friday, he brought up his first hat-trick of wins for the season (Success Come True, Quarter Back and Silent Partner) and has now repeated the feat with Axel (see previous report), Majestic Empress and Gingerella in the Lucky Last.

With 22 wins on the board, he has put a nice buffer of five wins between him and the next best, Noh Senari, who is currently serving a two-day careless riding ban.

Duric had actually made Gingerella his best chance of the night, and even for the weekend, and the unbeaten daughter of former Singapore champion three-year-old Gingerbread Man backed his judgement with a superlative performance in the $70,000 Kranji Stakes C Division 2 race over 1200m.

Taking full advantage of the low draw (three), the four-year-old mare was punched straight out into the lead at barrier rise, before getting some company in the shape of Shoot Up High (Zuriman Zulkifli) on his outside and later on Bartimaeus (Benny Woodworth) out three wide.

It turned out to be just a side distraction which Joe Singh’s talented mare easily shrugged off once Duric tested her upon straightening up.

Powering away to the line, Gingerella went on to salute by a gap of three lengths from Bengal Lancer (Michael Rodd) while her resuming stablemate Siam Blue Vanda (Glen Boss) bounded in late onto the scene to grab third place another neck away. The winning time was 1min 9.98secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.

“She has improved so much since I won a Novice race on her. She was also very dominant when Glen Boss rode her on a light weight at her last start,” said Duric.

“I was a bit apprehensive with her going up in the weights tonight, but she is a beautiful strong mare.

“She’s got a bit of size about her, she is scopey and she will progress through the grades to become a good sprinting mare.

“She’s just so speedy and I wanted to make a good thing of her tonight. Once she was one length in front, I rode my own race.

“I tried to cut the corner and she then showed an explosive turn of foot into the straight.

“I think she can run seven furlongs, but she doesn’t really have to go further as there are so many good sprint races around. We’ll see.”

One such race may even be the pinnacle of sprinting races at Kranji, the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) on May 25, but Clements said Gingerella will have to pass a few more tests first.

“She came to us a one-time winner (back in Perth) and she just thrived here,” said Clements.

“She is very speedy which suits the style of racing here. She has gone from strength to strength.

“She doesn’t have to be right there on the pace and go flat out. She can easily come back; I believe she is versatile.

“A race like the Lion City Cup is a bit of a long shot now, but it could fit into her programme as long as she keeps going the way she is going now.

“There is also the option of setting her for the first Leg of the new Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge.”

Clements was alluding to the reinstatement of the famed series following an announcement from the Singapore Turf Club on Thursday, along with the creation of a new first Leg over 1400m, the Group 3 Silver Bowl on June 9.

With that third win, Gingerella has taken her stakes earnings past the $110,000 mark for Singh.