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Ricardo Le Grange wished former top juvenile Pennywise could have his first-up run over turf, but as there was not much to pick from, he will just have to wait for another day.
The son of Pure Prize has won all his four races on Polytrack. He raced on turf only twice and they both ended in defeat.
With his main target, the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, a turf contest over all three Legs, Le Grange would be “wise” to get his protégé out of the Polytrack comfort zone sooner rather than later.
Still, Sunday’s $70,000 Class 3 Division 1 race over 1200m on the alternative track was an ideal race to beat those holiday blues.
“Pennywise is in good order after the break. I’m very happy with his trial (won last Thursday),” said the South African handler.
“He had a nice gallop on Wednesday. All’s going well, and I expect him to run well on Sunday.
“I would have given him a run on grass, just so he gets used to it from a 3YO series perspective, but that Polytrack race to kick things off is not a bad thing.”
The Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge gets underway with the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on April 5, followed by the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) on May 3 and the grand final, the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) on May 25.
Le Grange said the Bernard Kantor-owned galloper’s defeats on turf were not entirely conclusive results he resented the surface.
“He had two runs on turf that were questionable, once in the juvenile race (Aushorse Golden Horseshoe) when he slipped out of the gates with Nooresh (Juglall) and the other one when he got a shifting track and was ridden by Glen Boss,” he said.
“He had excuses and we’ll have a better idea how he goes when he runs over turf again.”
Juglall, who has steered Pennywise to three of his wins, was also in a bullish mood ahead of the Argentinian-bred chestnut’s first 2019 assignment.
“Penny has improved with each run. He has four wins on Polytrack and he should go well again,” said the Mauritian jockey who opened his 2019 account with The Big Easy on Tuesday.
“He was unlucky at his last start and with some luck, he can give us his best on Sunday.”