3 minute read
It was a case of rain wouldn’t stop play on Friday night for trainer Kuah Cheng Tee and jockey John Sundradas as they walked away with the top prize of the evening when Per Inpower proved too strong in the $85,000 Class 2 handicap over 1400m.
This win was a fourth win on the bounce for this four-year-old son of (as the name would suggest) Per Incanto. He is certainly racing through the grades in the manner of a smart horse, having now won half of his starts over the 1400m turf course and distance.
Unable to gain a run in the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) on November 8, he has become a real success story for his trainer's small string. He was supplying Kuah with a 14th winner of the year with the win forged in no small part without assistance from the saddle – John is now unbeaten in four races on board this smart galloper.
The Kranji track had been the recipient of 43mm of rain prior to racing and by the time Race 6 was due off at 9.20pm, much more had fallen resulting in the track being downgraded before racing to a yielding track (5.2).
Jumping from an inside barrier in gate No 2, he wasn't as cleanly away as most of his rivals in this hotly-contested heat with the likes of soft ground specialist Nepean (Matthew Kellady), EW Barker Trophy third placegetter Webster (Krisna Thangamani), Tesoro Privado (Michael Rodd) and former Singapore Derby runner-up Lim's Samurai (Tengku Rehaizat) all able to settle in prominent positions early.
As the field charged into the home turn in what was a messy race in the early part, the well-fancied Aramaayo (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) was a little worse than midfield with the extremely well-backed Per Inpower not too far off him.
No better than eighth at the 400m marker, Webster, Nepean and stablemate Aramaayo were all making a bid for victory while the eventual winner had a wall of horses ahead of him, but once the gap appeared between Webster and Aramaayo, John was able to guide his mount smoothly through to go and claim a fourth straight win.
He went on to register a success on yielding ground seeing off Aramaayo by a neck with Augustus (Juan Paul van der Merwe) taking third spot. The winning time was 1 min 23secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
This win also provided a 15th win in the 2019 season for John.
"I thought I wouldn't have much luck in the straight, but when he got a gap in between, he just charged," said John.
"He likes the ground, I'm not worried about that, but I thought the class was a little bit high for him.
"I thought he would have to give it a good fight, but he did it easy,"
Raced by the Strong Stable, Per Impower has now amassed earnings in excess of $205,000 from five wins and three minor placings from just 11 career starts in Singapore.
