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Trainer Shane Baertschiger is gunning for more horses to come from Adelaide trainer Michael Hickmott after Ladrone scored at his second start on Sunday.
An Adelaide barrier trial winner, Ladrone was the fourth of a quartet of horses sold by the Australian trainer to Baertschiger to have won a race at Kranji. Mount Kinabalu, Timo and Solaris Spectrum are the other three gallopers to have already got on the scoresheet.
“Looks like Michael has brought me luck. He’s sold this one, Mount Kinabalu, Timo and Solaris Spectrum and all four have now won,” said Baertschiger.
“Michael has an eye for horses and it’s obviously a privilege to work with him. Hopefully he will sell us more winners in time to come.”
Baertschiger said Ladrone, who ran second on debut in a 1200m race, had to be used a little to secure the lead, but once he did, it was all left in the able hands of his stable jockey.
“JP rode him a treat, didn’t he? They were made to work a little harder when the horse on the inside (Natural Impulse) kicked up,” he said.
“JP rode him hands and heels in the last bit. He looked beat at one stage, but he dug deep and got there.
“I will just keep him to 1100m for now, and he will go on turf when these races come back around mid-January next year.”
One horse who will also be on many black books is runner-up Sun Times (Manoel Nunes) who looked like he would gobble Ladrone up when he came with a stinging run at the 300m, but Ladrone showed a lot of will to win to stave him off by a neck. Ocean Master (Mark Ewe) ran third another 2 ¾ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 5.10secs for the 1100m on Polytrack.
Powell said the shorter trip probably worked to his mount’s advantage second-up.
“First-up 1200m, he got tired in the end, and 1100m was probably more suitable for him today,” said the Australian jockey.
“Michael (Rodd aboard Natural Impulse) kept kicking on the inside and it took us a while to get in front, but to my horse’s credit, he fought on well. He put his head down and got the nod.”