Sunday's Singapore Stipes' report highlights
RACE 1
VOY: Bumped; raced keenly.
NORTH STAR: Bumped; unbalanced; eased when crowded.
GREENBACK: Jumped awkwardly inwards; made contact; raced wide.
LAM EDITION: Made contact.
STANZOUT: Raced keenly.
DOS EQUIS: Raced keenly.
GRAVLAX: Raced wide; jockey S John reported that Gravlax was not striding out freely; a veterinary examination confirmed this.
RACE 2
DRAGON: Examined by the veterinary surgeon and passed fit to race.
SUPER BRILLIANT: Bumped; inconvenienced; raced greenly.
NOVA STRIKE: Bumped on two occasions; carried outwards; hung outwards; inconvenienced.
GOLD CUSTOMER: Slow to begin; crowded.
SPIRIT SEVEN: Bumped; steadied.
TIRAMISU: Bumped on two occasions; raced poorly.
GOLD CUSTOMER: Proved difficult to settle; laid inwards.
MAGNUM: Unbalanced after being bumped; raced wide; shifted inwards abruptly.
FORTUNE SPIRIT: Unbalanced after being bumped; steadied.
RACE 3
SMART SUPREME: Began awkwardly; difficult to settle.
STORM TROOPS: Bumped; carried outwards.
STAR BEAUTY: Bumped; crowded and lost ground; overraced; became awkwardly placed after racing to the inside of Golden Sword.
MILLION ROUND: Jumped outwards; made contact; carried inwards.
DRAGON INFINITY: Made contact; awkwardly placed on the heels of Million Round.
ASPREY: Difficult to settle.
SUPERSONICSURPRISE: Difficult to settle.
DR N WING FIGHTERS: Raced wide.
GOLDEN SWORD: Apprentice CC Wong was fined $500 for dropping his whip near the 50m mark.
RACE 4
FINE CHOICE: Cast his near-fore plate and had to be reshod behind the barrier; bumped.
NATURAL IMPULSE: Bumped; hung outwards badly and raced wide despite the efforts of his rider.
NOVA SPIRIT: Bumped.
ILUVYOU: Jumped awkwardly outwards; bumped; returned having cast his off-hind plate.
LAKE HUKA: Blundered on jumping; lost ground after being bumped heavily; held up turning into the straight.
BLUE MOON: Shifted inwards abruptly; bumped heavily; hung inwards badly throughout; veered outwards; shifted inwards abruptly, then shifted outwards abruptly.
RACE 5
DRAGON G: Lame off-fore; withdrawn.
AMAZING: Slow to begin after jumping awkwardly; then crowded.
ALASAMO: Jumped inwards; laid outwards.
Apprentice R Shafiq, when questioned regarding the run of Alasamo, said that the gelding travelled keenly in the lead when Tangible Assets raced alongside his mount.
He added that Alasamo was under pressure from the 800m mark and commenced to give ground noticeably early in the homestraight.
He further added that he thought there might be something amiss with the gelding and therefore did not pressure Alasamo to the end of the race.
His explanation was noted.
Alasamo was impounded for routine veterinary and analytical examination and the veterinary surgeon reported that the horse exhibited signs of respiratory distress after the race and returned not striding out freely.
WONDERFUL ERA: Jumped outwards; steadied when racing tight.
TANGIBLE ASSETS: Steadied.
BRAD: Tendency to lay inwards.
RACE 6
MR CALIFORNIA: Lost ground after beginning awkwardly; raced wide; returned as a roarer, the veterinary surgeon advised that the horse had previously undergone corrective surgery for this condition.
GANNA: Slow into stride after beginning awkwardly.
THUNDER CAT: Began awkwardly; bumped inwards; raced wide.
INCANDESCENT: Shifted inwards after beginning awkwardly; bumped.
ALLEZ: Eased to avoid the heels of I'm Kool; returned having cast his off-fore plate.
I'M KOOL: Rolled outwards.
FALCON: Raced wide.
DARSHANA: Eased out of the race from the 600m mark; the veterinary surgeon reported that the horse broke his off-fore fetlock and was humanely euthanised.
SUN EMPIRE: Hung inwards.
RACE 7
EASY EASY: Jumped awkwardly; made contact.
WARSPIRIT: Made contact; raced wide; apprentice T See dropped his off-side rein shortly after turning into the straight and he regained it about 50m later.
NATURAL NICE: Bumped.
ONE UNITED: Bumped; made contact.
DR OCTOPUS: Made contact.
NOVA ACE: Raced wide.
RACE 8
HYPERNOVA: Jumped awkwardly.
DAVIDE: Slow into stride; carried inwards when racing tight.
TRUDEAU: Raced wide.
WIMBLEDON: Raced wide.
CAVALLO: Raced keenly; steadied.
SUPER WINNER: Shifted outwards to improve.
RACE 9
DRAGON FURY: Fractious in barrier.
SPRING THUNDER: Slow into stride.
BAHEN: Bumped.
PHILANTHROPIST: Bumped; got his head up when being steadied.
SMART LAD: Slow to begin; crowded; got his head up when being steadied after racing up into a tight position.
BLACK FIERY: Jumped awkwardly inwards. Jockey N Juglall reported that Black Fiery was making respiratory noises.
CORDOBA: Raced wide.
MINGS MAN: Checked.
MAC VOLKS: While the stewards felt that it had not affected the placings, jockey A Munro was reminded of his obligations to ride his mount out fully to the end of the race.
RACE 10
SCIENCE FICTION: Bumped; eased when racing in restricted room.
SMART VINTAGE: Bumped; raced wide.
CLERMONT CLUB: Began awkwardly.
US Triple Crown winner beaten in the Travers
American Pharoah, the first American Triple Crown winner in 37 years, was stunned in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga yesterday (Singapore time) by Keen Ice.
The Bob Baffert-trained colt was unable to take his winning streak to nine races as he was overtaken in the finishing straight by a horse he had beaten in the Haskell Invitational on Aug 2.
With Victor Espinoza again aboard, American Pharoah broke well and took the lead, digging deep to get back in front after he was headed by Frosted.
But Pharoah had nothing left when jockey Javier Castellano brought Keen Ice from the pack to claim the win in the 2,000m, US$1.6 million ($2.2 million) race on a Saratoga track dubbed the Graveyard of Champions.
Only one of the four Triple Crown winners that ran there - Whirlaway in 1941 - has won the Travers.
Baffert said he didn't know if the defeat - Pharoah's first since a fifth-place finish in his debut in 2014 - would mark the end of the horse's racing career - or if he might yet run in the Breeders' Cup Classic in Lexington, Kentucky, on Oct 31.
- AFP.
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