Newcomer Alqantur has a bright future
Clements-trained Al Rashid Stable’s galloper trounces rivals on raw ability, will improve
Trainer Michael Clements went into Saturday’s $75,000 Restricted Maiden event over 1,200m on turf with a strong hand – two of his three new horses were the first and second favourites.
The Tivic Stable-owned two-time trial winner Bounty Rainbows was the punters’ choice at $13 for a win.
But it was the stable’s second fancy, Alqantur, who delivered with a sterling 31/4-length victory that suggested the Al Rashid Stable-owned galloper has a bright future. He paid $17.
Alqantur was third to Bounty Rainbows in his first trial and then won his subsequent heat.
On both occasions, he was ridden by jockey Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, who kept Alqantur a handy fourth after jumping swiftly from Gate 1 on Saturday, as Bounty Rainbows led from Dabble and Xiyou.
Dabble kept annoying Bounty Rainbows, who caved in under pressure after straightening.
But no sooner had Dabble found the lead than Alqantur lunged to challenge under Beuzelin’s hard riding.
Despite looking a bit green, Alqantur raced away to score emphatically in 1min 10.41sec.
“He’s an exciting young horse who was prepared in New Zealand, where he always showed ability in his educational trials,” said Clements, the 2020 Singapore champion.
“He was still green at his initial trials. But he has stepped up and improved each time he has come out. At his first barrier trial, he looked really uncomfortable. He had his head up and it was a bit of a worry.
“But he never does that in his trackwork. So we figured he didn’t like the kickback and, at his second trial, he had a bit more room, and he won it nicely.
“Today, he had a good barrier and there was some speed in the race. We just told Louis to settle behind the leaders. He had an ideal race. Once he went around the couple in front, he ran away from them in the straight.”
Alqantur is one of only four Al Rashid’s horses left in Clements’ yard, while the squad under Mark Walker, who has left Kranji, have been either sold or transferred.
At the peak of the emerging Middle-East team’s presence at Kranji, Clements trained the bulk of their horses, with the likes of So Hi Class, Day Approach, Kassab and Al Meqdam, among some of the winners he saddled.
But Kuwaiti businessman Fahad Ibrahim Khalid Al-Rashid, who also races horses in Dubai, the US, England, Australia and Malaysia, noticeably took a step back in Singapore towards the end of last season. A first omen surfaced last October, when six horses were moved to the headquarters in Dubai – Jacksa, Almugir, Zahau, Day Approach, Mellad and Al Meqdam – with more joining the exodus in the ensuing months.
Out with the old, in with the new and quality over quantity would seem to be the mottos defining the yellow-brown silks’ new direction in Singapore.
“Fahad gave me a budget at the beginning of last year to buy young horses and Alqantur is one of the four I bought,” said Clements.
“He was moving the older ones along and was shifting his focus to a new younger stable of horses.
“Like some owners of late, it’s a bit of sit-and-wait to see how the racing industry goes in the next year or so.”
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