Grylls to ride in Singapore Guineas
New Zealand jockey booked on Stephen Gray-trained February in $150,000 feature
New Zealand jockey Craig Grylls is back for another Singapore stint – but for only one race day.
The 33-year-old, who rode 44 winners during his Kranji days in 2017 and 2018, has been engaged to partner the Stephen Gray-trained and Falcon Racing No. 7 Racing Stable-owned February in the $150,000 Singapore Guineas in Race 11 on Saturday.
The Group 2 feature over 1,600m, revived after a two-year absence due to Covid-19, is the third leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.
February did not contest the first two legs of the series – the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m) on April 8 and the $150,000 Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1,400m) on May 6.
The bay New Zealand-bred is entering straight from his Restricted Maiden victory over the Singapore Guineas distance on May 6.
He has a second (1,600m) and a third (1,400m) from four other starts.
From his record, he has no issue over the Singapore Guineas distance but he is the lowest-rated contender in the field of 11.
He will also jump from the widest barrier.
The Sprint was won by Falcon Racing No. 7’s January (Simon Kok).
The Donna Logan-trained gelding finished fourth in the Classic, which went the way of the Michael Clements-trained and Gandharvi Stable-owned Coin Toss (Daniel Moor).
Besides February, Grylls has also been booked on two Logan-trained horses.
He will ride Te Akau Ben, a winner of his penultimate start, in Race 6 and Entertainer in Race 10.
Grylls is the son of former leading New Zealand jockey Gary Grylls, who rode at Bukit Timah in the late 1980s.
He had a fairytale start, scoring his first winner as a 15-year-old at Ellerslie at only his third race ride. Since then, he has amassed more than 1,100 winners.
His winners included 13 at Group 1 level. His latest Group 1 victory came atop the Stephen Marsh-trained Ulanova in the Sistema Stakes in March.
It was the race he won with Kaaptan in 2009.
Grylls also captured the New Zealand Derby twice – on Crown Prosecutor in 2019 and Rocket Spade in 2021.
Licensed by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, he sits in second position on 106 winners on the New Zealand jockeys’ premiership.
He has also ridden in Australia and Macau.
Grylls goes to scale at 54kg.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
