Mile win defies Makin's doubters

Al-Arabiya Stable's proactiveness and bold faith in Makin seeing out 1,600m at Kranji were well rewarded on March 9.

Even Manoel Nunes, the jockey who guided the Written Tycoon four-year-old to his two previous wins, had been among the sceptics. The five-time Singapore champion jockey decided to ride Black Storm instead.

Top jockeys are human and make mistakes too, though. Nunes pulled the wrong rein.

Makin, who was still sent as the even-money favourite, came with a pulsating finish at the 300m to claim Nunes' ride Black Storm in the $70,000 Class 3 race (1,600m).

Trainer Steven Burridge had not been without his reservations either.

But he still endorsed Al-Arabiya's Mansoor Gandhi's decision to prefer the mile to the 1,200m of another Class 3 event.

Gandhi's rationale in testing Makin over uncharted territory on March 9 was to get early answers if he were to be aimed at the four-year-old races in three months' time.

Barring the Group 3 Silver Bowl over 1,400m on June 9, the other two features go further - the Group 2 Stewards' Cup over 1,600m on June 30 and Group 1 Singapore Derby over 1,800m on July 21.

"The mile was a big question mark, but the owner wanted to try him for the 4YO races," said Burridge.

"We thought we'd run him this week. He was fit and well.

"To be fair, Nunes didn't jump off as he had already committed to Tim's (Fitzsimmons) horse (Black Storm) before he knew Makin was entered.

"Makin is not an easy horse to ride. I took the winkers off to stop him from overracing.

"Ryan (Curatolo) rode him very well. The way he went today, why not go to the Derby?"

The furthest Makin had even ventured in his 11 starts in Singapore was 1,400m, the distance of his two previous victories.

The pattern was also in line with his Australian record, when known as Moscow Night, and trained by Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott in Sydney.

In five starts between 1,100m and 1,400m, he registered his only win over 1,400m at Warwick Farm in January 2023, but that fourth career victory has now added another string to his bow.

It remains to be seen whether Curatolo's time atop Makin will last only over the 1min 34.07sec clocked for the 1,600m on the long course.

The French jockey, for one, hoped he would not have to renew that experience through the race replay.

"When Steve offered me the ride, I was more than happy to take it," said Curatolo.

"Steve did tell me it was his first time over the mile. It was still a question mark.

"But today, he proved that he can get that trip and he has a bright future here.

"I had a beautiful cart behind Manoel's horse (Black Storm). He was relaxed throughout and quickened very well.

"I preferred to switch to the outside as he's finished off his races that way.

"If he can master that ability to relax in the future, he'll have a brilliant future.

"This is a very nice horse, and I sure wouldn't mind riding him again."

Nunes, who still enjoyed a memorable day with a treble and a 700th win milestone on the Daniel Meagher-trained Lim's Bighorn, would not let the wrong decision spoil the party.

"That's racing. You win some, you lose some," said the Brazilian jockey.

"I thought he was not ready for the mile yet, but he proved me wrong. I'm still very happy for Mansoor and Steve."

manyan@sph.com.sg