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ROCKET MAN became the
shortest priced winner of the S$500,000 Lion City Cup when he trashed his
rivals in the Singapore premier sprint over 1200m at Kranji tonight,
stretching his unbeaten run to seven wins.
It was the first major test
for the Australian three-year-old, after his victory in the one-off Magic
Millions Orchid Trophy (for three-year-olds), Singapore 3YO Sprint and the
Kranji Sprint.
Despite carrying 5.5kg more
than he did in the Kranji Sprint, in which he set a new course record with a
time of 1:8.6, ROCKET MAN (Viscount - Macrosa by Mr McGinty) went within 0.1
second of that mark tonight.
ROCKET MAN quickly settled
into the lead, paced by WAIKATO. Last year's winner CAPABLANCA looked a
possibility when he closed in on the leaders in third spot making the home
turn. But ROCKET MAN kicked away soon after and went to the line two and
three quarters lengths ahead of the rest.
LIM'S FIGHTER finished well
to finish second, just as he did last year, just ahead of ONCEUPONATIME who
'flew' in the closing stages.
Punters went to town on
ROCKET MAN who paid $6 on the win tote. His starting price was shorter than
the $7 returned by WHY BE in the same race in 2007.
"He
proved he was a real champion tonight,” said ROCKET MAN's trainer Patrick
Shaw. “He did it hard on the pace and was still able to quicken. He had two
quality weight-for-age horses chasing him throughout but he broke their
hearts.
"We now
have the KrisFlyer (International Sprint on May 17). I saw a great horse in
TAKEOVER TARGET win in Australia last week and no doubt he will be hard to
beat, but it’s a great honour to be taking him on and I’m really looking
forward to race. I hope we will do Singapore proud."
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