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Charger tames the favourite in first leg of 2YO series

Kranji Nursery Stakes

The six-race Singapore Golden Horseshoe series kicked off yesterday and CHARGER lived up to his name when he charged home to take out the first leg of the yearly juvenile series, the $90,000 Kranji Nursery Stakes over 1,000m on the Polytrack.

The John O'Hara-trained Dick Turpin colt was among six two-year-olds who were at their first career race, with only Auspicious Day to have already had one run when a long last to Grey Falcon in a Restricted Maiden race six weeks ago.

But Charger was undisputably the superior horse on the day when he came under a well-judged ride from Michael Rodd to beat the $8 favourite Bringer Of War in the concluding stages.

From barrier No. 3, Rodd was able to settle the $32 chance snugly into the box seat behind Bringer Of War (R Shafiq), biding his time until they swung into the home straight.

Charger attacked the line with great aplomb but, Bringer Of War, a two-time Kranji barrier trial winner, dug deep in a bid to regain the advantage. Charger kept finding, though, to score by a length from trainer Mark Walker's filly.

The winning time was 59.97sec.

O'Hara's assistant-trainer Stephen Crutchley certainly held Charger in high regard at the post-race interview, even if he is not quite the finished article yet.

"He showed a lot at his barrier trials even if he was still very colty. Let's hope for better things to come out of him," said the New Zealander.