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King Arthur reigns supreme

The Donna Logan-trained sprinter enjoys the sizzling speed to score his sixth win yesterday

A hot speed up front paved the way for King Arthur to return to winning ways at Kranji yesterday.

Ridden by apprentice jockey Yusoff Fadzli, the I Am Invincible four-year-old was a cut above after coming off a ground-saving run on the rails in fourth.

Resuming speedster and race-favourite Sun Ops (Manoel Nunes) did look to have the race at his mercy when he kicked clear upon straightening. But the lack of race-fitness probably told on the last-start bleeder.

With King Arthur leading the charge, the race changed complexion in the blink of an eye, as the swoopers engulfed Sun Ops at the 150m mark.

Sky Eye (Iskandar Rosman) closed off nicely, but King Arthur was home and hosed with one length to spare. 

Sun Ops hung on for third, another ¾ lengths away – and will no doubt strip fitter for his next start.

Well backed into $25, King Arthur ran the 1,000m on Polytrack in 59.15 seconds.

Winning trainer Donna Logan, who just returned from a two-week break from New Zealand, was delighted with the way the stable has gone even without her in the office.

At her first day back last Saturday week, she picked up a double through Axel and Silent Is Gold.

She followed up yesterday with Olympia and King Arthur to edge her way up into the Top 5. 

On 15 winners, the Kiwi dislodges Daniel Meagher from fifth place on a countback for seconds.

Logan thought King Arthur was a little girthy, but was confident enough the early speed would bring him into the race. With some luck, he could have the last crack at them in the home straight.

“I thought he was a little big today and thought he would improve from the run. We freshened up the horse to progress on and, obviously, it’s worked,” she said.

“We opted to claim 3kg with Yusoff and he rode him to instructions, and rode him very well.

“I said to Yusoff you’re drawn one and you’ve got to use your barrier draw. I just wanted them to be two or three off on the fence.

“They were coming wider as the day has gone on. He followed the instructions 100 per cent.”

The Malaysian rider was just thankful to his boss for entrusting him with such a smart horse.

“He’s a good horse. This race is a very strong race with a lot of front runners,” he said.

“The instructions were to sit behind if they go mad early and bring him out at the top of the straight.”

Yusoff described King Arthur as a willing individual in the morning, but he has learnt to get on top of him with plenty of practice.

“He’s a very strong horse to ride in the morning, he’s always keen. I just put in a lot of effort, my trainer supports me and gave me the chance to ride this horse,” he said.

King Arthur has amassed about $230,000 in prize money for Fortuna NZ Racing Stable, thanks to a handy record of six wins, five seconds and two thirds in 17 starts.

All six wins have been recorded exclusively on the all-weather track – three each over 1,000m and 1,200m. 

Yesterday’s 12 races were evenly spread among the various trainers, with only Logan, leader Tim Fitzsimmons and Stephen Gray scoring a brace each. 

Dancing Light and Resurgence were Fitzsimmons’ winners, both ridden by Manoel Nunes.

Unable to get on the board for the first time last week, Nunes got back on track with a hat-trick.

Besides his customary wins for Fitzsimmons (he has steered home 21 of his 24 winners), Nunes scored a rare win for Shane Baertschiger on Big Green Hat.

The three-time Singapore champion leads on 44 winners, 25 clear of Oscar Chavez.

Gray’s winners came from Laksana and Hyde Park.

HORSE RACING