Born To Win sets Beasley on a double
Beuzelin lands treble with Day Approach, Big Hearted and Spirit Of Big Bang
Sometimes, a horse just leaps from the page and you go "wow".
On paper, Born To Win had that wow factor. He had the barrier - five. The race was on grass, which he loved. And his jockey was Danny Beasley who, since returning to race riding, had been showing plenty of dash and daring.
Born To Win had "Best Bet" credentials and, since nowhere has it been written that Class 5 horses cannot qualify as the day's best, we sent him off with a huge thumbs up.
As it turned out, Born To Win did not disappoint. Indeed, he did not just win that race over 1,600m. His blistering finishing speed gave his rivals windburn.
In the process, he smashed them to smithereens.
Credit to trainer Leslie Khoo for turning him out looking like a million bucks. While he gave his many supporters palpitations when he cleared the chute in second-last spot, he quickly settled down to race in earnest.
Opting for a run on the outside, he had them in his sights at the top of the stretch.
Oscar Chavez, returning from an injury break, led on Pisca Pisca, but that dream result did not materialise. Born To Win and Pasir Pinji consigned him to third spot.
Sent off as the favourite, Born To Win won by over two lengths. He paid a fairly decent $13 for the win and $8 for the place. It was his fourth success in 24 starts. As for Beasley, he would later score on Songgong Hera in the ninth.
If favourite backers reckoned the "favourite" trend would continue, they were disappointed. They had backed Ima down to $10 in the second event and they took a bruising.
For the fifth time since making his Kranji debut in January, Ima let down his backers. He managed to run only third to five-length runaway winner, The Shadow.
Congratulations to jockey Shafrizal Saleh, who steered the four-year-old to victory to give champion trainer Michael Clements the first leg of his four-timer.
Shafrizal does not get many rides but he squeezes every ounce from the ones that come his way. It was his sixth winner for the season.
From the way the former Donna Logan-trained galloper opened his Kranji account, they are going to have a lot of fun with him.
Same, too, the connections of Day Approach. Another one from Clements' stable of champions, he prevailed in Race 3 after having a private battle with Beasley's mount, Buuraj.
Louis-Philippe Beuzelin rode Day Approach and it brought up his 11th winner for the season. Buuraj took second. Beuzelin would later win on Big Hearted and Spirit Of Big Bang, both also Clements' runners.
Punters were back in a good mood in the day's showpiece - the $85,000 Kranji Stakes B sprint over 1,400m. They stormed the betting booths to back Big Hearted and they were spot-on.
Who else did you expect? The reigning Singapore Gold Cup winner produced his trademark finishing burst to grab the win.
It was his seventh victory from 14 starts and his story just keeps getting better.
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