Speed is in Pacific Vampire's blood

The message Pacific Vampire sent when he bounced back to winning ways on Aug 11 was loud and clear: “Don’t cramp my style.”

With Bruno Queiroz back at the reins, he channelled the Pacific Vampire of old when he dashed up front, unrestrained and unbridled.

Into the straight, there were no signs of a sudden collapse. The $11 favourite did shorten up late and was begging for the line, but the 1½-length margin over runner-up Energy Baby (Chad Schofield) was still comfortable.

Fans of the horse tagged as the overnight Kranji sensation back in April were delighted to see that X factor had just been in a slumber.

At his first two wins (1,000m and 1,200m) in as many Kranji starts, the Sydney import (then known as Shadow Vampire) blew away the opposition.

Living up to his blood-thirsty name, he took the race by the scruff of the neck from the start before leaving a path of destruction in his wake.

The ease of the wins, coupled with a quick glance at his contrasting come-from-behind wins in Australia, had trainer Jason Ong toying with loftier – and longer – targets.

“He’s a horse with a lot of speed, but back in Australia, he used to drop back in his races,” said Ong.

“But after we got him to lead here, we wanted him to settle so he could go over more ground.

“We’ve been trying to get him to stay up to 1,400m and 1,600m, and eventually the Derby.”

Such experiments resulted in five defeats in a row, including over sprints.

When sitting off the speed bombed, Ong reverted to his bunny role, but even then, he was spectacularly reeled in after looking all home and hosed.

After his latest resounding defeat in the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1,200m) on July 28, even though the Singapore champion trainer knew he had not erred in thinking big for the Pacific Stable-owned son of Impending, he made the bold decision to go back to basics.

“He disappointed a couple of times and we changed his training a bit,” said Ong.

“For example, he used to work with a crossover noseband as he wasn’t easy to handle, but we dropped that.

“I gave him more low-impact work, more swimming and kept him fresh. I saw a change of mentality, he was a lot better.

“We just had to allow him to use his natural speed instead of doing the opposite.

“He’s a very intelligent horse, and I still think he can get over more ground. But as we are running out of time, it was better to keep him to sprint races.

“It’s panned out well today. Hopefully he maintains his winning ways.”

Queiroz, who previously rode Pacific Vampire to his second win as well as his worst defeat at his next start (fading eighth to Flying Nemo), agreed that the no-holds-barred approach worked better on the Pacific Stable-owned speed machine.

“He’s a very good horse, but he’s better over the short course,” said the Brazilian jockey.

“When he jumped well, I pushed him out in first 100m. He travelled fast, but as he is quite big, he can pull once you try to steady him up.

“He may be six or seven lengths clear, but in the last 200m, he gets one-paced. That’s why the short course suits him better.”

Ong insisted that Queiroz’s timely return on Pacific Vampire’s back was no slight on his jockey at his last four starts, Daniel Moor.

“Moor has done nothing wrong on Pacific Vampire. We wanted him to ride but he was already committed to the Falcon Racing horse (January),” said Ong.

“Bruno can have a mind of his own at times, but his riding style suits this horse, and it’s worked out well today.”

That only Aug 11 win kept the gun jockey at the top of the standings on 49 winners. But, after missing the Aug 4 action following his Australian one-day stint, defending champion jockey Manoel Nunes clawed his way back with two winners, Fearless Warrior ($8) and Quadcopter ($33).

On 48 winners, Nunes, who is bidding for a sixth title, trails Queiroz by only one winner.

manyan@sph.com.sg