Go, Gingerella, go
Gingerbread Man's daughter lands hat-trick at Kranji
Speedy mare Gingerella has gone from strength to strength since arriving as a one-time winner from five starts in Perth and the bigger things now beckons.
Backed down to $9 favourite for his hat-trick bid at Kranji on Friday night, the daughter of former Kranji glamour galloper Gingerbread Man achieved it with aplomb, leading all the way to take the $70,000 Kranji Stakes C-2 event over 1,200m by three easy lengths in 1min 09.98sec.
"She has improved so much since I won a Novice race on her. She was also very dominant when Glen Boss rode her on a light weight at her last start," saidwinning jockey Vlad Duric.
"I was a bit apprehensive with her going up in the weights, but she is a beautiful strong mare. She's got a bit of size about her, she is scopey and she will progress through the grades to become a good sprinting mare.
"She's just so speedy and I wanted to make a good thing of her tonight. Once she was one length in front, I rode my own race. I tried to cut the corner and she then showed an explosive turn of foot into the straight.
"I think she can run seven furlongs (1,400m), but she doesn't really have to go further as there are so many good sprint races around. We'll see."
One such race may even be the pinnacle of sprinting races at Kranji - the Group 1 Lion City Cup over 1,200m on May 25 - but trainer Michael Clements reckoned Gingerella will have to pass a few more tests first.
"She came to us a one-time winner and she just thrived here," said Clements.
"She is very speedy which suits the style of racing here. She has gone from strength to strength. She doesn't have to be right there on the pace and go flat out. She can easily come back. I believe she is versatile.
"A race like the Lion City Cup is a bit of a long shot now, but it could fit into her programme as long as she keeps going the way she is going now. There is also the option of setting her for the first leg of the new Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge."
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