Speedy Cat blitzes them

Singapore Turf Club Press Release

Michael Lee

Sunday, February 12, 2012

After two dominant wins on the Polytrack, the Grande Vue Lodge Syndicate & Waikato Stud 2001 Ltd – bred galloper Speedy Cat emerged as rising Singapore sensation with a breathtaking win on the turf on Sunday..

Lined up by trainer Alvin Tan in the $75,000 Class 3 race over 1200m, the Scaredee Cat three-year-old was never in doubt once he overcame his outermost alley to settle on the fence at the head of affairs.

Regular partner John Powell held the $6 favourite together till the home turn when he finally let go of the brakes. Just like at his previous two runs, Speedy Cat bounded away from his rivals in the blink of an eye to walk in by two-and-a-half lengths from Glownight Racer (Opie Bosson) with Country Club (Oscar Chavez) a head away third.

John Powell looks over his shoulder to see where the opposition is in winning

the final event on Speedy Cat on Sunday.

Speedy Cat stopped the clock at 1 min 10.65 secs.

Powell, who had to waste hard to meet the allotted 52kg which he eventually rode half-a-kilo over, said the race was in his keeping from the moment he found the lead, but he had to do it a little harder this time.

“The first 500m were run pretty quickly, and I had to push him out to find the lead,” said the Australian jockey, who was at a perfect score of two-from-two, having won aboard the Brian Dean-trained Knight Spirit earlier in the piece.

“He came back nicely under me once he led. In the home straight, he was gawking a bit – looking at the car on the inside.

“But to his credit, he kept finding when I asked him. Some horses as young as him and who had to spend some petrol early normally weaken, but he kept going.

“I just let him coast to the line without hitting him as I didn’t want to use the stick on him and punish him unnecessarily.

“Today’s win showed he was just as good on grass as he is on Polytrack. He’s definitely a horse of above-average ability.”

Equally taken by the gelding’s cruising win was Tan, who will however tip him out for a while before bringing him back for the upcoming Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge next month.

“I have to say a big thank you to John Powell for the sacrifice he has made to make the weight today,” said Tan.

“He also shows up every day at the stables to ride him at trackwork. Today, his win has given me more confidence to run him on grass from now on.

“I was concerned about his wide gate. It’s the third time he has drawn wide but his early gate speed helped him overcome that again.

“His time is also pretty good. I will give him a break and probably find another similar race for him on the grass before we look at the 3YO series.”