Top Knight sets sights on bigger things
Clements' exciting star comes back from break to crush Class 2 opposition in quick time
Top Knight, virtually assured of the Champion Three-Year-Old Award, demonstrated that more goodies are up ahead with another scintillating victory at Kranji on Sunday.
Fresh from a break after his near-clean sweep of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge series, the Michael Clements-trained Australian-bred kicked off his four-year-old campaign by making mincemeat of his Class 2 rivals over 1,400m on the Long Course C.
Showing no lack of horse-power despite the worry of lacking a run, the Falcon Racing No. 7 Stable-owned star produced his trademark finish to beat front-runner and last-start winner Nepean by two lengths.
He clocked a remarkable 1min 21.89sec for the trip.
The rich Singapore Triple Crown series now beckons.
Clements' "soft plans" include the $800,000 Group 1 Raffles Cup over 1,600m on Sept 22, the $800,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 1,800m on Oct 20 and the $1 million Group 1 Dester Singapore Gold Cup over 2,000m on Nov 10.
"He just turned four, he still has got a lot ahead of him. Obviously, we've to be tempted at looking at the next series that's coming up - the Raffles Cup, the QE II Cup and the Gold Cup," said Clements.
"We'll have to see how he comes out of this run, but those are the soft plans at this stage."
Although Top Knight came into Sunday's race fresh from his Singapore 3YO Challenge bid - which resulted in a narrow second in the $175,000 Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint over 1,200m and wins in the $400,000 Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic over 1,400m and the $800,000 Singapore Guineas over 1,600m - Clements was not entirely confident of a win.
In fact, his other horse, Eye Guy, opened as the favourite but was withdrawn after dislodging jockey Vlad Duric on the way to the start. Only then did Top Knight took over favouritism and went off at $10 for a win.
"He had a pretty hard three-year-old preparation. We gave him a good break after that and he has had a good preparation coming into this race. But, obviously, there were concerns with regards to his race fitness," said Clements.
"But, clearly, he has found the line really well today and he has done time as well. So, it was really an impressive win."
Ridden for the first time by jockey Daniel Moor, who a race later won the $400,000 Group 2 Merlion Trophy over the Polytrack 1,200m for Clements on Countofmontecristo, Top Knight jumped well but dropped back to a long seventh in the field of 10.
Nepean led by two lengths from Curvature. A gap of three lengths came Wecando, a winner of his last two starts, and Magic Wand.
Curvature came up to eyeball Nepean on straightening but could not get past. It was left to Wecando and Magic Wand to take over the challenge.
But, when asked by Moor with 300m left to run, Top Knight responded brilliantly. Although he drifted in under pressure in the final 200m, Top Knight hit the front 150m out for a super-impressive victory.
"They went hard and they went early, so I was quite happy to get my horse balanced and trust the horse to do the rest," said Moor.
"Like I said, he has got a bit on them and, when they went that quick and went that early, I was always confident he was going to be strong late.
"Look, he's super progressive. There's not a lot of him aound but he's very genuine and he's a gentleman to deal with.
"He relaxes well and he's got a good turn of foot. So, with the good tempo, which is usually the case at this turf club, it's going to play into his hands. Hopefully, he can keep progressing."
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