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Former UK galloper Captain McCaw made a winning debut in Singapore when taking out the $65,000 Initiation Stakes over 1200m on Friday night.
Ridden by Joao Moreira, Captain McCaw scored a fighting head victory over Shipping Forecast (John Powell) with Lucky Come (Oscar Chavez) a length away third.
Moreira had Captain McCaw quickly out of the barriers. Shipping Forecast, which initially was caught three wide, pressed forward to assume control of the race with Captain McCaw settling in second place.
Powell was able to dictate the tempo in the middle stages before Moreira started to apply the pressure on the hometurn.
Shipping Forecast kicked and with 200m to run looked a good chance of holding off the $15 victor, but over the last 50m Captain McCaw proved just a shade too strong.
Named after Richie McCaw, the New Zealand Rugby ‘All Blacks’ captain, Captain McCaw raced in the UK on five occasions with a best finishing position of a second on the Polytrack at Wolverhampton last September.
Captain McCaw was sold at auction at Newmarket last December to dissolve the partnership and the gelding was purchased for 10,000 Guineas, which now looks a cheap buy after he won around $30,000 in his victory on Friday night.
Trainer Laurie Laxon took a quarter share in the gelding. Long time partners Peter and Philip Vela were previous owners in the gelding and retained their share along with New Zealand High Court Judge Justice Goddard.
“He came up for auction to dissolve a partnership last December,” said Laxon. “Peter and Philip Vela already owned him with New Zealand High Court Judge Justice Goddard.
“We only had to go to 10,000 Guineas to get him and after his win today we’ve almost got our money back.
“He’s a smart type of horse and he did a pretty good job tonight. For a while there I didn’t think he was going to get past Cliff’s (Brown) horse.
“We’ll just take our time with him. He’s only a light little thing but I’m sure we’ll be able to find a suitable race for him again somewhere.”
Captain McCaw is a three-year-old UK-bred gelding by former Australian sprinter Exceed And Excel from Our Sheila.