Pacific Vampire proves too strong over 1,020m sprint
KUALA LUMPUR - Pacific Vampire proved his dominance over the sharp 1,020m sprint in the RM62,000 (S$18,900) Supreme A race at Sungai Besi on Aug 17, albeit on the No. 2 track.
With his natural early speed, the Jason Ong-trained six-year-old has - more often than not - proved hard to catch when racing on the main track in Selangor.
But with the Supreme A contest run over the sharper No. 2 track on the inside, three well-backed runners took Pacific Vampire on, consisting of his stablemate and the bang-in-form Filial Dragon - who won four consecutive races before going down to Noah Khan in his last start - Platinum Fort and Bransom.
But they all proved to be no match for Pacific Vampire as he cruised to a 3¼-length victory.
Platinum Fort (Marc Lerner) took the early lead, and Pacific Vampire (Jerlyn Seow) quickly joined him, before breaking away to a clear lead at the 600m.
Bransom (Clyde Leck) followed in third, with Dream Alliance (Andre da Silva) and Filial Dragon (Oscar Chavez) behind in fourth and fifth respectively.
Pacific Vampire ($12) led into the straight three lengths clear of Platinum Fort. Tried as the latter did, he could not gain ground on the leader and had to settle for second.
Filial Dragon just beat Bransom to take third. The winning time was a slick 58.1sec for the 1,020m on the yielding track.
Two-time Singaporean champion apprentice Seow was concerned with the trip and outside barrier before the race, but Pacific Vampire dispelled all her doubts.
"He's (Pacific Vampire) a genuine, fabulous and amazing horse," said Seow, who rode the son of Impending at his debut win in Singapore on April 6, 2024.
"We did have some doubts today because it's 1,020m, and we had a wide barrier draw (8). We expected a lot of speed on the inside, but I think the speed was just right today."
Seow has now ridden Pacific Vampire to three of his four wins in Malaysia. The Pacific Stable-owned gelding has also picked up four wins from 11 starts at Kranji previously.
Pacific Star ($24) rang up a back-to-back double for Ong after the Boulder City six-year-old completed a hat-trick of wins in the RM49,000 Supreme C event (1,800m) under da Silva. The leading Brazilian jockey was also his winning partner in his last two starts.
Also owned by Pacific Stable, Pacific Star has won six times over 1,200m to 1,600m in Singapore, and has saluted four times over middle-distance races from 13 starts in Malaysia.
SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE