Newcomer Mr Hanks' class prevails
Oscar Racing's 2YO New Zealand-bred romps home in fourth leg of juvenile series
He had that X Factor about him on his New Zealand form and, more importantly, the smart money poured in late to make him the $18 favourite.
What more do punters want?
Well, those who jumped on the bandwagon were laughing all the way to the bank as MR HANKS did not give them any anxious moments with a runaway victory in the $90,000 Inglis Ready2Race Stakes over 1,200m in Race 6.
In the process, the James Peters-trained and Oscar Racing Stable-owned newcomer set a class record in 1min 10.04sec, eclipsing MacArthur's time of 1:10.78 set last year.
Mr Hanks made his Kranji debut in this fourth leg of the six-race Singapore Golden Horseshoe Series for two-year-olds fresh from his creditable seventh placing in the Listed Karaka Million on Jan 29.
In three earlier starts, also as Oscar Eight in New Zealand, Mr Hanks notched two seconds, one of them in Listed race company, and a fourth.
Peters took his time on the bay gelding by Showcasing, targeted him for yesterday's $90,000 race for two-year-olds and it paid dividends.
The race started with Mokastar, runner-up in the third leg of the series, bursting to the front but he was quickly overtaken by First Choice and newcomer Kiss Your Song, who opened as the favourite but drifted to third choice at $24.
The winners of the first three legs - Charger, Whistling Win and Yaya Papaya respectively- were absent yesterday.
Jockey Vlad Duric parked Mr Hanks in a beautiful spot, sitting a lonely fourth on the rails.
Mr Hanks was peeled to the outside on straightening and he exploded to the front to say catch me if you can. They couldn't. The horse was pretty special, sprinting away to score by four-and-a-half lengths from Mokastar. It was by far the most impressive victory by a juvenile this season.
Auspicious Day, the most experienced runner with three races under his belt, including a last-start third in the second leg, and newcomer Iffragal dead-heated for third.
A rapt Peters reckoned the strong Kiwi form, barrier 1 and Duric's horsemanship won the day for Mr Hanks.
"Very impressive. He had some strong form - Karaka Million form from New Zealand - and he has shown how good he is today," said the boyish Englishman.
"He had a good gate in barrier 1 today and Vlad just gave him a beautiful ride behind a strong speed. When he pulled out at the top of the straight, he really let down well and found the line strong. Looking forward to the races to come with him."
Duric concurred about Mr Hanks' New Zealand form and that the horse had had a good preparation for the race.
"Look, he had form on the board and, obviously, he has had a little break from his Karaka Million race until now," said the season's leading jockey.
"He came here to James and we just took time with him. James had this race in mind a long way out and we had plenty of time to prepare him for it.
"His last trial was very good, his gallops had been nice but, you know, they're young horses and you just hope they can show you what they're made of.
"But he was impressive. He gave me a beautiful ride. There were a few green horses in the race and he was probably the one that had the experience.
"When I pushed the button on him, he lengthened like a pretty smart horse. You know, some horses, when they hit the front, they stop or have a bit of their way, especially young horses. He didn't. He just wanted that winning post. That's a very good quality to have."
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