A new three-year-old king was crowned Saturday (July 9) after the Golden Monkey ousted the prestigious winner of the $ 150,000 Group 2 Singapore Three-Year Classic (1,400m).
Starturn’s son claimed a three-year-old sprint (1,200m) for Group 3 Singapore three weeks ago, giving trainer Tim Fitz Simmons his first group victory in Singapore for the fourth year.
With the abolition of Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1,600m) last year, the traditional Singapore three-year-old challenge literally no longer stands.
The two surviving legs, Sprint and Classic, have become the de facto “three years ago” benchmark.
But what the Spanking Golden Monkey gave to his 11 companions, a quarter of which passed in the sprint. It was about the more important feathers that could be added to his hat in the future.
Fitz Simmons didn’t say the sky was the limit yet, but he was enthusiastic enough after the race.
“He’s a really serious horse. Thanks to (racing manager) Josh McClafflan. Such a horse makes my job easier. I’m speechless,” said an Australian trainer. Said.
“He’s a horse in class. I feel Oscar Chavez, but Jake Bayliss did a great job. I have a very good team.
Chavez has been a Golden Monkey partner in both trackwork and racing since day one. They achieved two wins in four starts, including the sprint.
However, the Panama-born Hoop was replaced by Bayliss after he was recently severely suspended for five months due to fees.
The loss of one person is the benefit of another.
Bayliss, licensed for one year from January, has already won Group 1 in New Zealand three times. But that was the secret that young Australians wanted here.
Not only Chavez, but Fitz Simmons’ dependable jockey Manoel Nunez was injured, and Bayliss was pinching himself when he was welcomed as the next unranked taxi.
He probably lost his sleep too. He may have his “golden” ticket to that coveted first group victory, but many may not work in 80 seconds.
“If I said I hadn’t played this race a hundred times in my head since the declaration came out, I would be lying,” he said.
“We did a great draw, and I had a horse under me.
“But they didn’t go as fast as I expected. The tempo was actually modest.
“I had two thoughts about whether they would split on a whim. In that case, I would go back further, but I was in the box seat.
“When I turned the corner, I was in two hearts again. I thought Gold Ten Sixty-One would take me to the race, but he was out of the bridle.
“I also dropped a little Silent Is Gold, so I pushed it out of the way. My horse turned a good leg.
“I am very happy to win the first group race in Singapore.”
A $ 500 fine to celebrate before the line ruins his enjoyment. But even if his liveliness wasn’t on display, his patrons could find out that the Golden Monkey was in a remote home.
The $ 8 favorite came in 23/4 long. But he probably won the race at the start. Despite the smart getaway, he passed the lead to two main threats, the Stable Gold Tensik Stewan (Vlad Durick) and the Silent Is Gold (Ronnie Stewart), on top of them.
The long-awaited three-corner grudge match never happened. When the Golden Monkey passed by, both Gold Tensix One and Silent Is Gold were rowing. They disappeared, couldn’t be split into 4th place, and had 5 lengths.
Two outsiders, Istataba (Bernardo Pinheiro) and Major King (Shafrizal Saleh), filled a minor spot long ago.
The victory time on the short course was 1 minute 21.45 seconds.
Another highlight is that the new apprentice Ibrahim Mamat won the first race only at the second meeting. He won the previous race on a Palletas ($ 20) for his boss Michael Clements.
