3 minute read

Promising galloper Quarter Back gave his Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge aspirations a big push after he scored an authoritative win first-up from a short let-up on Friday night.

Lined up in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1200m, the son of Empire Maker emerged as the only horse who could upstage favourite and stablemate Gingerella when after hugging the rails in midfield, he was peeled out for his run at the 200m by apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen.

Gingerella, who is probably in the running for only the first Leg, the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m), proved to be hard to peg back following a typical rating from a jockey whose strongest suit resides in frontrunning rides, Mohd Zaki, but as brave as she was, she just could contain Quarter Back’s superior finish. 

As Quarter Back  ($21) raced away, he went on to score by a winning margin of 1 ¼ lengths, with Elite Power (Juan Paul van der Merwe) third another length away. The winning time was 1min 9.01secs for the 1200m on the Long Course. 

That fifth win was bringing up a third win in a row to keep up an undefeated run this season. Quarter Back debuted the 2019 campaign with victory in a Class 3 race over 1200m on February 6 before he doubled up one month later in a Kranji Stakes C race over 1400m on March 8. 

In a race that featured a host of chances on Friday, some of them did not fare as well in the fallout. 

Sacred Rebel (Benny Woodworth) ran a decent race in fifth, considering he was rising in class, but from a 4YO series perspective, there was still some room for improvement. 

Last-start winner The Big Easy (Ben Thompson) began well but was soon back to his old reefing and tearing ways when Gingerella ranged upsides to vie for the lead. The Donna Logan-trained gelding started to throw his head up, a foreboding sign going with his past racing pattern, and true enough, the talented but moody gelding shortened strides noticeably in the straight to finish eighth. 

Lee Freedman’s Curvature (Iskandar Rosman) was another flop. Caught wide throughout, he had no more gas left upon straightening, fading to last while his stablemate Mr Clint (Troy See) is clearly not the same horse who won the Group 1 Singapore Guineas just one year ago. He tailed off badly and only made some ground late. 

Clements’ third runner, Eagle Eye (Glen Boss) travelled three wide at the back with cover, but was one-paced at the business end, finishing a moderate eighth, around 5 ½ lengths off the winner. 

Just like Top Knight has emerged as Clements’ leading hope in the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge after his thrilling come-from-behind win in the second Leg, the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) last Friday, Quarter Back is likely to carry the same tag in the four-year-old equivalent which kicks off with the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m) on June 9 and culminates with the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) on July 21. 

“Quarter Back did pretty good as a three-year-old, even though he’s a Northern Hemisphere-bred and is six months behind the horses of his age,” said Clements. 

“But he’s been maturing very well. On breeding, he can get further, but he also has a lot of speed and has a nice turn of foot. 

“On the way he runs, he should be going for the 4YO series. The first Leg will be okay for him. 

“Last year, he ran okay in the Guineas. Maybe he was not ready and had also come to the end of his preparation. 

“Hopefully, he can stay on for the mile this year.” 

Wong, who was at his first sit on the Thai-owned gelding, jumped off with a smile that spoke volumes about the sensation he felt sitting atop such a machine for over a minute. 

“First of all, I’d like to thank the trainer and the owner for giving me such a great ride,” said the former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey. 

“He sure feels like a different horse (to what I’m used to). After he jumped out, he showed he was a horse with a lot of experience. 

“When I angled him out, he just knows what to do. He ran to the line very strongly.” 

With that fifth win from 10 starts, Quarter Back has brought total income that has exceeded the $220,000 mark for the Falcon Racing No 5 Stable.