Ravalli gets rave reviews at trials

Last-start winner Ravalli came out for a smart tune-up at the Kranji barrier trials on July 4, giving every indication he can go back-to-back at his next assignment on July 13.

Ridden by Ryan Curatolo, who was aboard at his second-up win in a Class 4 race (1,200m) on June 16, the Ilovethiscity three-year-old ran a neck-second to Super Bowl (Jerlyn Seow).

Taking nothing away from Super Bowl, whose forte is more middle-distance races, but it was clear that had Curatolo wanted to dig his mount up inside the last 200m, the finishing order might have been interchanged.

Even if the French jockey was sitting pretty in the saddle, Ravalli effortlessly pulled his way to Super Bowl’s girth, almost like he was in auto-pilot mode.

Curatolo confirmed he rode the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained galloper in almost identical fashion to his win, except that victory was not necessary in a trial.

“I rode him the same way – sit for as long as I could,” he said.

“Tim told me not to get him to do a lot today, but at the same time, he had to put in some work.

“It’s been three weeks since his last run, and he’s set to race next week in the Class 4 over 1,200m.

“The thing about this horse is that he doesn’t pull at all. He was very relaxed, I had a lot in hand, and yet I didn’t have to do a lot.

“He just followed the leader on the bridle and then quickened up. It was a very good trial.”

With the end of Singapore racing (Oct 5) nearing, Fitzsimmons and the owners, the Jig Racing/Legacy Power Racing Stable, might be able to get three or four more runs out of the one-time Echuca (in rural Victoria, Australia) winner.

Curatolo rued the wasted opportunity of not being able to fully exploit such untapped potential.

“It’s a shame the club is closing as this is a quality horse who could have done so much more next year,” he said.

“He has so much scope. Even after one ride on him, I feel he’s improved by 30 per cent.”

Conversely, the next Fitzsimmons ward he hopped on in the following trial, has plenty of mileage under his hooves – Polytrack specialist Illustrious.

In his trademark bold-going style, the grey flash sprung the gates to take the lead, never to relinquish it all the way to the line.

The Top Echelon six-year-old brought up his 17th barrier trial win from 28 such outings.

But the last of his six race wins (all on Polytrack) was a while back. The three-length thumping in a Class 3 (1,100m) came on May 6, 2023, when ridden by Vlad Duric.

Curatolo came quite close at his only pairing, which was at his last start in a similar contest on June 1, just denied by Ejaz at the 100m.

“He’s a horse who needs to roll forward. He’s at his best when he is up there, he makes no effort to get there,” he said.

“He again broke well from the barriers, and he just kept going.

“He’s a straightforward horse to ride. I hope I can win one race on him before we close.”

To make all the running and still clock a decent time of 59.39sec without being fully tested, that return to winning ways may not be such a flight of fancy.

Fitzsimmons has certainly got the Buffalo Stable-owned galloper primed for his upcoming assignment in the Class 3 race (1,000m) on July 13.

In the third and last trial, it was maiden galloper Kranji First Hero who got up, though the winning style was not too appealing.

In contrast to Illustrious’ effortless win under his own steam, Kranji First Hero had to get several tastes of the persuader from Darren Danis before overcoming stablemate Nimbus Cloud (Krisna Thangamani) in the home straight, while clocking a moderate time of 1min 02.43sec.

The Eminent three-year-old is still winless after 13 starts, but with trainer James Peters’ high strike rate of getting at least one win from two in three horses in his stables, hopes are still alive.

It would, however, be ironic if Kranji First Hero finally breaks his duck at Kranji’s last day on Oct 5.

manyan@sph.com.sg