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European import Grand Koonta exhibited all the makings of an above-average sort after he cleared out for a relatively easy win in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m on Friday night.
A promising debut second in a Polytrack 1100m dash in similar company on February 1, the Irish-bred four-year-old grey by Dark Angel went one better in style under jockey Daniel Moor.
Granted, marble one and a cushy run in transit behind Crazy Dreams (Chan Wei Sheng) ruled out a few negatives from the equation, but the professional delivery of the 1 ¼-length victory from a threatening Sacred Guru (Benny Woodworth) had the word “upside” written all over.
Once a run presented itself between Crazy Dreams and the weakening Big Elephant (Ben Thompson), the rest was purely academic. Though Grand Koonta ($8) needed all of Moor’s coaxing to ping through the gap, he knuckled down to the task right through.
Cambridge (Michael Rodd) shaped up as a fleeting threat on the outside, but he stayed rather one-paced inside the last 150m to run third another 1 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.63secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Previously prepared by Lambourn trainer Clive Cox for the China Horse Club in England, Grand Koonta had only one win on the board when he arrived, a Novice race over six furlongs and 12 yards at Windsor in July 2017.
That win earned him his ticket to Group 2 level, where he ran in the Arqana July Stakes (1200m) and Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes (1200m) without losing marks against the likes of James Garfield and US Navy Flag.
Trainer James Peters is conscious he might have a smart little prize fighter in his yard, but is not about to rush him through his grades.
“Dan and I talked about the race. We were concerned the two horses with pace would be in front of him and he would be trapped on the rails as he drew one,” said the English handler, who by coincidence worked in Lambourn before he came to Singapore as a senior track rider for Michael Freedman in 2010.
“He had nowhere to go into the straight, but Dan manoeuvred him around for a clear run very well. Dan told me he had his ears pricked when he hit the front, which tells me he has a lot more potential up his sleeve.
“He is a straightforward horse and here I’d like to thank the China Horse Club for bringing up those nice horses from Europe.
“He’s quite fast. Even if he’s raced up to seven furlongs in UK, I think I will keep him to six furlongs on turf here for now.”
Moor was bagging a riding double after saluting earlier aboard $196 outsider Tiger Force for Donna Logan in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1600m. The good haul sees him leapfrog from seventh place to fourth place on the Singapore jockey’s premiership on eight winners.
“The one draw was a concern, but I didn’t want to burn him,” said the Australian jockey.
“He is still green and raw, but he quickened up well when he got through. I think he’ll run a trip for sure.”
