3 minute read

First-year trainer Mark Walker notched his first Group success in Singapore when handy miler Flying Fulton landed the Group 3 Committee's Prize (1600m) on Sunday.

Sent out as the $15 favourite in the 13-horse field, the Flying Spur five-year-old came off a handy spot for jockey Vlad Duric to first outgun race-leader and second-elect Arowana Dot Com ($17) at the 200m before working home nicely to score by one length from a gallant Best Knight (Alan Munro) with Singapore Derby winner Clint (John Powell) turning in the eye-catcher of the race to pip Arowana Dot Com (Joao Moreira) for third by a nose.

The winning time was 1min 36.6secs for the 1600m on the Short Course.

Walker, a five-time champion trainer in New Zealand and who held a mortgage on the feature races there, such as the Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes (three wins), was thrilled he had been able to savour his first feature success at his new backyard.

“It sure is a big thrill to win my first Group race in Singapore,” said the Kiwi conditioner.

“Winning big races back home seems to happen all the time (he won 20 at Group 1 level), but it's a bit of a struggle when you are in a new country.

“It's only our first season here and if you think about it, we've been punching well above our weight in the big races here.

“This horse (Flying Fulton) is very interesting because (Te Akau principal) David (Ellis) bought him at a Ready-To-Run in Karaka and paid a bit of money (NZ$210,000) for him.

“He won a Listed race as a colt but after that his form dropped. It was a hard decision to geld him, but it turned out to be the best decision.

“David always buys beautiful athletes and this bloke is certainly one. He has come through as an older horse and I think he will improve further.”

Walker's appetite for feature wins may now be whetted as the next big race on the mile is only two weeks away – the Group 1 Panasonic Kranji Mile on October 2.

“I think he is more of a 1600m-1800m horse. The Kranji Mile and the Raffles Cup (1800m) will be right up his alley,” he said.

“But I'm not sure about the 2200m of the Gold Cup. It all depends what weight he gets in.”

Flying Fulton, who was a veteran of 14 Kranji starts for four wins before his landmark win, was surprisingly ridden for the first time by Duric, who does team up with Walker a fair bit.

“Vlad rides a lot of trackwork for me and as he wasn't committed to any horse, I gave him the ride,” said Walker.

“We've clicked well together since I started training in Singapore. He's riding in great form as you can see, and he rode him very well today.”

Duric will undoubtedly keep fond memories of the Committee's Prize day as he not only took the honours with a four-timer and the win in the Group 3 race, but he also achieved a career milestone by riding his 200th Singapore winner with The Comedian three races earlier.

“He deserved this win as he had been around the mark in some of the feature races as a four-year-old,” said Duric.

“He's going to be better for the run and I'm happy to be riding him.

“He puts himself in a nice spot during his races and he finishes his races off strongly.”

The ride aboard Flying Fulton came about when Moreira committed himself to the ride aboard Waikato a couple of weeks ago in a 1400m race that was eventually scrapped.

Walker asked Duric to ride the gelding in a trial and test him as a possible Triple Crown Series ride which, besides the Kranji Mile on October 2, the Raffles Cup on October 23, culminates with the Group 1 $1.35 million Longines Singapore Gold Cup over 2200m on November 13.

“I jumped on him in the trial and I liked what I felt,” said Duric.

“He was well weighted under the conditions of today's race and with improvement he's going to be competitive in the weight-for-age races (Kranji Mile and Raffles Cup) and we know he can run a trip.

“What I wanted today was to be positive from the draw, to ride him well and get a result.

“The race panned out the way I thought it would. That doesn't happen often and it worked to my advantage today.

“Mark has been a great supporter of mine since he first arrived here. I ride quite a few for him in the morning and he's got a good team working for him.

“It's good to be able to repay him with a good winner.”

Flying Fulton has now registered five wins from 15 starts and has brought his stakes earnings past the $430,000 for the Te Akau Racing Stable.