3 minute read
Trainer Mark Walker and jockey Benny Woodworth proved lethal once again after they combined to bring up their first winning treble on Friday night.
The pair boasts 16 winners together this season, of which 10 were from the prominent Raffles Racing Stable owned by Dato Yap Kim San.
These colours again shone for Woodworth and Walker through Sacred Rebel and Sacred Don in the last two races, but it was Alex ($35) for the Te Akau Racing Stable who got the ball rolling for the dynamic duo in the $75,000 Novice race over 1400m.
Of the three winners, Polytrack specialist Sacred Rebel was without a doubt the one with the most upside.
After breaking out of barrier six, he quickly settled into fifth position on the outside of early pacesetter Webster (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1100m.
Rounding the bend, Sacred Rebel was peeled out wide for his run. Webster showed a great deal of resilience along the rails, but could not contain the $8 hotpot when he came charging home on the outside at the 200m.
Sacred Rebel went on to defeat Webster by one-and-a-quarter lengths with Emergency Acceptor Dutrow (Raquel Clark) third another length away. The fast-finishing Robin Hood (Ng Choon Kiat) came in fourth another half-a-length away.
Stablemate Fulife King (A’Isisuhairi Kasim), who was up in class and bidding for his third win in a row, weakened late to finish about five lengths behind the winner.
Sacred Rebel incidentally shaved off half-a-second from Eagle Eye’s previous class record of 1min 4.71secs on the Polytrack over 1100m.
In New Zealand and Australia, Sacred Rebel scored three wins from 10 starts. The four-year-old chestnut gelding has now recorded three wins from six starts in Singapore, all on the Polytrack thus far.
“He’s a funny sort of horse. We’ve tried him twice on the turf and he’s failed,” said Walker, the current premiership leader on 44 wins.
“His Australian form was okay, but mainly on wetter track, so I think he just appreciates that little bit more give in the Polytrack.
“Benny is riding in great form too.”
When asked if there were plans to step Sacred Rebel up to better grades of races, such as the Group 2 Polytrack feature Merlion Trophy (1200m) held on August 25, Walker said he would discuss with the owners first.
“He will probably have to step up to that sort of class sooner or later,” said the New Zealander.
“I’ll have a chat with Dato Yap and Bruce Sherwin (racing manager) to see if they want it (Merlion Trophy), but he’s getting up in the ratings pretty quick now.”
Woodworth has racked up 25 winners this year, with two-third of them supplied by Walker. He heaped praise on Sacred Rebel, noting that the son of Sepoy enjoyed the sting out of the ground.
“He’s been working and running very well,” said Woodworth who has partnered Sacred Rebel at all his runs.
“He felt so strong in the race that I had to turn my head and look on the outside tentatively to see if I’m clear or not.
“I didn’t want to come through from the inside and then have traffic problems when he’s travelling that well. From that point, I just took him out and he was cruising past them.
“Actually, I was very confident tonight because there are a lot of older horses. They race a lot, whereas he is an up-and-coming, young and improving horse. I think he is capable of running in those good races.
“He prefers a bit of cut in the ground because he is just different when he is on Polytrack.
“In saying that, he is still running very well and not losing far behind, just that he couldn’t find that extra. But, if it rains, it will be different.”
Sacred Rebel earned NZ$17,125 (one win in Te Rapa) and A$64,800 (two wins in Sunshine Coast) previously, and has amassed more than $130,000 in prizemoney with his three wins and one placing from six starts in Singapore.
The third pin of the Walker-Woodworth rampage was Sacred Don ($42) in the Lucky Last, the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 1200m.
