SINGAPORE,  27 April 2007

New Zealand jockey Andrew Calder, 24, has been granted a six-month extension of his visiting jockey’s licence, which will see him remain in Singapore until Oct 31.

Calder has been getting his fair share of winners since his first win aboard the Len Treloar-trained SIDFORD on Nov 17 last year. He has landed more 12 wins after that, the highlight being his win on the Laurie Laxon-trained CRUSOE in the Punters’ Way 30th Anniversary Cup on March 16.

And it looks like Calder will feature in the $3 million Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m) on May 20.

“Laurie has promised me the ride on the Volksraad four-year-old in the SAIC. I’ve always wanted to win a black type race in Singapore and it doesn’t get any bigger than the SAIC,” said Calder who has yet to win a Group race in Singapore, but already has 19 Group races to his name in New Zealand, including six Group One events.

“I’m looking forward to that race knowing that I’m going out on a good thing. I have no doubt he’ll be a strong chance. He had a tough trip and still went strongly to the line in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup recently,” he added.

“I’ve been lucky to have received a lot of support from many trainers here,” he said. “It’s always a pleasure to ride horses like CRUSOE, and though I didn’t win on CAPABLANCA, he was also one of the better horses I’ve ridden here.”

On his extended stay in Singapore, Calder said” “I enjoy not travelling for three hours to get rides like I used to do in New Zealand. “And the stakes money is so much better here.”