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Trainer John O’Hara and jockey Manoel Nunes celebrated their first Group 1 triumph in Singapore when unheralded Spalato captured the $500,000 Patron’s Bowl on Sunday.
A relative newcomer to the Kranji racing scene, this was just Spalato’s third start here though the New Zealand-bred gelding had laid down an impressive marker ahead of the second leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, winning both his previous outings by a combined margin of almost 15 lengths.
This time, there was barely any elbowroom to separate Spalato who led the 1600m trip from start to finish but was hanging on at the end to pip Stepitup (David Flores) by a short head as the front-running pair went at it hammer and tongs while the rest of the field played catch-up. Filling the final podium spot almost three lengths adrift was Bendicion (A’Isisuhairi Kasim).
The start of the race was even delayed slightly when Spalato became fractious in his stall but settled soon after and the Elusive City four-year-old gave another glimpse of his superior gate speed to cut across the field from his wide gate at barrier eight and seize the initiative quickly in his first outing over the mile.
His two prior wins last month had been over 1000m on the Polytrack and 1400m on the turf and there had been doubts about Spalato’s ability to handle not just the sharp rise in class but also the longer distance, though those notions were put to rest 95 seconds later when he crossed the winning post for the unexpected victory.
For O’Hara, whose resume contains two “black-type” wins, the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup in 2010 and the Group 3 Kranji Sprint in 2011, both with Ghozi, this was sweet vindication for Spalato, who in the week leading up to the Patron’s Bowl had judged the bay galloper as “probably the best horse” he has trained in a career that has spanned 22 years.
“It feels fantastic,” said the 50-year-old Singaporean, who rarely betrays too much emotion but the smile on his face spoke volumes of his deep satisfaction. “For every trainer, winning a Group 1 is the dream.
“But you also need to have the right horse. These wins are hard to come by, especially for us local trainers.
“Nunes rode him perfectly today. He never pressured the horse and punched the button at the right time.”
A maiden Group 1 victory since relocating here last year capped what was a memorable day for the Brazilian hoop, who claimed his first four-timer of 2014 to move up to 65 wins and stretch his commanding lead at the top of the premiership over the chasing pack.
“It’s a very good feeling,” he said. “All credit to the horse. Before the race I thought 1600m was a worry for him but what a big heart he has, what a fighter he is. When Stepitup came up to try and pass him down the straight, he just fought him off.”
On whether Spalato, who is named after a city in Croatia, could continue his remarkable rise and feature in the third and final leg of the 4YO Challenge, the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m) staged on July 13, Nunes was circumspect.
“2000m is a question mark but so was today and he got the job done,” he said, echoing O’Hara’s own caution when quizzed about how far the Spalato fairytale could go.
Instead, O’Hara preferred to pay tribute to the team behind this incredible tale which has produced three wins on the trot and almost $340,000 in prizemoney deposited into the bank.“Congrats to the owner (Graham Mackie) who’s been a great supporter of local racing and he really deserves to have such a good horse,” he said. “Thanks also to David Shepherd who brought Graham to Singapore. He’s been a big part of this win.
“I’d also like to say special thanks to James Brownsea our farrier for sorting out the horse’s foot after he became lame two Mondays ago. He had a nail prick to the left fore and that’s why he missed his work for around a week.
“We managed only one gallop into the race on Saturday, and one on Tuesday afterwards. We’ve been nursing the foot since then to this race.
“It was therefore a great team effort to get him to the races today and to come out and win makes the win even more special."
The green and silver pyramid colours of Mackie and his wife Trish Dunnell have been seen around Kranji for a while now, but Spalato is by a country mile their most valuable racehorse.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” said Mackie. “My wife Trish bred him and we knew he would be a good horse after he won a trial in New Zealand.
“Credit to John for the wonderful job he has done on our horse. He’s won three from three, including a Group 1, fantastic. That’s what racing is all about.”
Dunnell, a well-known racing identity and racing photographer in New Zealand was delighted a horse she has bred personally has risen from her paddock to Group 1 acclaim overseas.
“I wouldn’t say we knew he had ability from the day he was born, but he sure showed he had some when he won his trial,” said Dunnell.
“For some reason, we could not sell him as a yearling, probably because he was too small. We kept him and it’s worked out very well for us.”
Despite suffering his fourth straight loss, there were plenty of upbeat signals coming from the connections of Stepitup.
“It was already a great feat to bring him to the race as he came down with an infection,” said trainer Sonny Yeoh. “He managed to recover on time. We only made the decision to run him today and he’s run a cracker.
“He’s done us proud and I’ll see how he pulls up. If he’s okay, he’s going for the Derby.”