Different tactics but Cadet still makes it
FRIDAY RACES
He is the last horse to go in but will he be the first to come back?
The Singapore Turf Club's new racecaller Nicholas Child asked this as the odds-on favourite CADET walked up to enter his starting stall in Race 3 at Kranji last night.
Well, win the Patrick Shaw-trained up-and-coming galloper did in the Class 4 Div 2 event over the Polytrack 1,000m, but not in the way most expected him to, proving he was not one dimensional.
Raced by the Thai-owned Kajorn Petch Racing No. 3 Stable, Cadet led all the way in his last start over the same trip and surfaced by over two lengths.
But, last night, his legion of supporters must have been given some anxious moments when jockey Nooresh Juglall held him back fourth and rode him with a bit of patience which, luckily, also paid dividends.
Orchard Road led, hounded by Lim's Sincere and the grey Halo Bright. Cadet was two lengths behind, giving Juglall a good workout on his biceps.
At the halfway stage, Cadet was still fourth and wide, but you could see that his rider still had a lapful of horse underneath him. His mount was like a bomb ready to explode.
Orchard Road led narrowly into the straight from Lim's Sincere and Halo Bright. Juglall then decided to release the brakes and Cadet moved up like a good horse.
NARROWED THE GAP
Lim's Sincere popped his head in front at the 350m mark but was in turn headed by Halo Bright. Cadet narrowed the gap with a few bounces and hit the front 200m out.
However, the three-year-old Australian-bred did not career away to win by a big space. Like what the club's other racecaller Matthew Jones said, he had a mini struggle with Halo Bright before sprinting to the winning post first by half a length.
Cadet again clocked below one minute for the Poly 1,000m, in 59.72sec. He clocked 59.09sec the run previous.
With his impressive last-start victory and improvement, as evidenced by his trial win and winning workouts, it was no surprise he opened up in single-digit odds from the first bell and stayed that way until start time.
He paid $7 for a win and, surprisingly, also $7 for a place.
It was his second straight win this campaign. Before his half-year spell, he showed up well in his trials but could only finish seventh in his debut and then a fourth. The break certainly did him a world of good.
Only three years old, Cadet is not the finished article, so his connections will have plenty of fun with him next season.
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