Burridge will not Hasten next move

Steven Burridge is having a rethink after selling Hasten a little short.

The veteran trainer dropped the son of Hellbent out of the $150,000 Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1,400m) on April 27, easing him down to the $50,000 Class 4 race over the same 1,400m journey instead.

Hasten’s gutsy victory – his second in six starts – by a neck under leading jockey Bruno Queiroz vindicated him, but it has also left him wondering.

“I thought he was not up to the Classic, and it might be better for him to go for an easier race where he’d get only 52kg,” said Burridge, who also owns Hasten.

“It was actually a very competitive race, and he did a good job to win it.

“We’ll see how he pulls up. I may have a rethink about the Guineas.”

Hasten did contest the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m) on April 6.

But, after he beat one home – 10 lengths off the winner Ace Of Diamonds – it was hard not to align with Burridge’s opinion that the Classic, let alone the grand prize, the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1,600m) on May 18, would be too rich for him.

A downgrade in racing often pays dividends, but the Australian is aware that it does not necessarily warrant a quick promotion either.

Besides, Hasten was 1.39sec slower than Lim’s Bighorn in the Classic.

He clocked 1min 22.57sec versus Lim’s Bighorn’s 1:21.18 for the 1,400m on the short course although, in all fairness, speed was taken out of the Class 4 race early.

Burridge – who has never won any of the 3YO features – except as a B trainer to Michael Kent when Southerly Wind made a clean sweep of the then Tiger Beer Series in 1997 – was more taken by the winning style.

As the joint-favourite with Eruption, the pair lived up to their billing when they hogged the pace up front.

But only one of the $17 price tags would be justified at the business end – Hasten’s.

Despite holding down the rails spot in the eye-balling match, Eruption (Manoel Nunes) was the first to blink once Hasten turned on the heat.

There was no shortage of challenges from elsewhere, though.

Great Warrior (Jerlyn Seow) snuck up on the inside, last-start winner Te Akau Ben (Vitor Espindola) came chipping away on the outside, but Hasten held sway.

Stablemate Sousui (Carlos Henrique) and Super Baby (Bernardo Pinheiro) joined the fray, too, but they arrived too late.

Sousui finished a neck-second for a Burridge quinella, with Te Akau Ben boxing on for third, another short head away.

“From the barrier (10 from 14), I left it to Bruno. We would have been more confident if he had drawn better,” said Burridge.

“But Bruno is riding very well and the horse got all the right runs this time.

“At his two runs back, he got squeezed, he didn’t have a lot of luck.”

On paper, Hasten will still need plenty of it should he take a roll of the dice in the Singapore Guineas, but will provide the stable a nice fallback.

Burridge already has Bakeel as his main 3YO contender. A closing second to Lim’s Bighorn in the Classic, the Al-Arabiya Stable-owned galloper is expected to lap up the extra 200m of the Guineas.

Bar Race 7 on April 27, where his three runners filled the last three spots, the in-form Burridge finished in the money in the six races he had engagements in.

Favourite Split Second, a $14 chance ridden by champion jockey Manoel Nunes, made it a race-to-race double in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 1 race (2,000m), while My Determination (Race 1) and Ejaz (Race 8) added two more seconds.

“A bit of rain helped Split Second a little. He likes some give in the track,” said Burridge.

“He can be hard to track but, as he’s a 2,000m horse, today’s race suited him.”

With eight wins in 53 starts for more than $192,000 earned, the Bullet Train six-year-old has been a handy money-spinner to have in the stable.

However, if that record is to grow further, it may well happen elsewhere.

With the end of the road – Singapore racing’s last day is on Oct 5 – in sight, Burridge is not leaving livestock relocation at the last minute.

Split Second has been tagged as one of the early movers.

“He’s going up to Malaysia, he’ll be useful up there,” said Burridge, who was assistant trainer to Tan Soo Beng in Kuala Lumpur for many years before getting his Singapore licence in 2005.

“But he may still have another run or two here before he goes.”

manyan@sph.com.sg