DAN EXCEL buried the ghost
of the past 12 months when he romped to a record-breaking win in the S$3mil
Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m) at Kranji here tonight.
After winning the Group 1
Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin in May last year, the Irish gelding has
found one to beat four times in group races, including a second-place finish
to fellow Hong Kong runner MILITARY ATTACK in the Group 1 SIA Cup last year.
Ridden for the first time
by Tommy Berry, DAN EXCEL finished third in the Champions Mile earlier this
month but at Kranji tonight, he blew away the opposition to win by one and
three-quarter lengths returning a time of 1min. 59.07secs which better the
previous best of 1min. 59.22secs. set by GLORIA DE CAMPEAO when the latter
won the SIA Cup in 2009.
French runner SMOKING SUN
flew home to beat MILITARY ATTACK for second, denying Hong Kong a 1-2 for
the second year running.
"DAN EXCEL was always the
underdog, the bridesmaid, but he drew the right gate. He had barrier No 1
and he just enjoyed a ground-saving run on the rails throughout,” said John
Moore who also trains MILITARY ATTACK, the odds-on favourite at $9 for a
win.
"MILITARY ATTACK had to be
used very early to get across from his wide draw and he was not the same at
the finish."
For Berry, it was his
second big win on this track after partnering TROPAIS to victory in the
Singapore Gold Cup last November.
"He (DAN EXCEL) showed
tonight that he’s a better horse with the winkers on and I was confident
when he was bouncing out of his skin coming through the tunnel onto the
track. He travelled a lot stronger than I expected. He was tough right
through the line." |