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Singapore Gold Cup winning trainer Michael Freedman was a happy man to see Savannah Dancer back in the winner’s circle in the Class 3 Stakes on Friday.
The victory provided Freedman with his 66th winner of the season, moving him to within six winners of Premiership leader Laurie Laxon.
Appreciating the 2kg claim of apprentice jockey Shafiq Rizuan, Savannah Dancer scored by a half-length over One Rar (Danny Beasley) with Bourbon Goldman (Jose Verenzuela) a head away third.
After beginning her Singapore career last November, Savannah Dancer lost her way after a good beginning which saw her land two victories from her opening four starts before running third in Group 3 company.
But some feet issues brought on by some hard track saw the five-year-old out of the winner’s circle until a smart ride was handed in by Shafiq in guiding the mare to victory.
Shafiq had Savannah Dancer positioned in fourth place on the fence. A three way battle was being fought between Bourbon Goldman, Luwak Coffee (A’Isisuhairi ‘Harry’ Kasim) and Pacino (Vagner Leal).
Turning for home Bourbon Goldman rolled off the fence and Shafiq seized the opportunity and took full advantage of the run to hit the lead and open up a winning break with 200m to run, holding a margin to the line.
While Freedman said Savannah Dancer’s form had looked disappointing, he said the mare had been working well all the way through.
“The thing with this mare was that while she hadn’t been racing all that well her work all the way through had been good,” said Freedman.
“She had a few feet issues which were niggling away at her after racing on the hard tracks earlier in the year and now that she’s got her confidence back she might now be able to go on with it.
“She’s only a small little thing and she had been getting some buffering in her previous runs.
“Tonight there was three or four of them hammering along early and she got herself into a nice spot.
“When the leader rolled off on the turn she was able to take full advantage of it and showed a good turn of foot.
“She’s probably one-or-two lengths off where she was earlier in the year and when she also ran third in a Group 3 race when Joao (Moreira) didn’t give her the best ride.
“Full credit must go to Dato Yap. He could have sent her back to New Zealand this year for the breeding season. She’s a good genuine mare and she’ll probably head back there next year and go off to stud.”
A New Zealand-bred five-year-old by Savabeel from Scally Wag, Savannah Dancer landed her third win in Singapore from 13 starts and with a further five placings has now won more than $165,000 in prizemoney for Raffles Racing.