3 minute read

After the heart-breaking experience of seeing his pair of Dark Matter and Awakened fill the two minor placings behind Mr Big in last year's inaugural Aushorse Golden Horseshoe, trainer Steven Burridge turned agony to ecstasy 12 months later when he landed the first prize at this year's renewal with Pitstop.

The Australian conditioner, who had not secured a win in any of the previous six legs of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe series, snared the one that mattered – the final Leg, a Group 2 event over 1200m which carried a purse of $325,000 and a bonus of $135,000 which included two bonuses that had jackpotted after Kiwi-breds Super Good and Yin Jie had won two of the Legs.

Pitstop is fully qualified for the bonus as he is a Magic Millions purchase bought for $21,000 at last year's Magic Millions National Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast before being sold for $100,000 at the Magic Millions National Horses in Training Sale last October. By exciting first season sire Zizou and from the stakes winning Al Hareb mare Pottinger, the two-year-old is a half brother to the Malaysian stakes performer Blesswithspeed.

The Magic Millions connection goes one step further as Pitstop was bought by the Asian representative of the horse sale outfit, Burridge's son Wade.

A flying debut second to Yin Jie for jockey Azhar Ismail three weeks ago, Pitstop ($19), who had the top Malaysian jockey aboard again, came off a cushy spot on the rails courtesy of a good jump from barrier No 2 to land the money by a head from the Leslie Khoo-trained debutant Easy Man (Greg Cheyne) by a head.

Third place went to another newcomer prepared by Khoo, Hogwarts Express (Saimee Jumaat). The winning time was 1min 11.31secs for the 1200m (Long Course) on a yielding track.

Easy Man, a two-time barrier trial winner, lived up to that form by jumping the best to show the way in the big 16-horse field. Noted speedster Rory (Soo Khoon Beng) came spiralling over from his even wider draw to eyeball him from the backstraight to the top of the straight where Easy Man was soon being hailed the winner as Rory quickly knocked up.

Favourite Super Good (Joao Moreira), who had held third spot in the box-seat for most of the way, seemed unable to muster an acceleration at the 300m while Pitstop looked a touch hamstrung in traffic right behind.

But once Azhar saw daylight between runners, Pitstop started to reel in Easy Man, who however fought back with plenty of industry under Cheyne's urgings on the inside.

The winning post loomed up and Pitstop lunged to get his head on the line, handing Burridge a much-deserved victory in the Group 2 juvenile feature, which was by the same token his first Group success since Captain Obvious won the Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy last September.

An emotional Burridge dedicated the win to a host of people including Wade and his staff, but his voice shook the most when he mentioned his senior track rider Darren Murphy, recently injured in a trackwork accident.

“He's had an interrupted preparation and it's great to see him win tonight, but I have a special thought for Darren who broke his leg recently,” said the Australian trainer.

“He was the one who rode the horse (Pitstop) all the time. I rang him up this morning and I told him 'Mate, I think we can get the money'.

“He said 'Let's hope so'. I'd also like to thank Wade for buying the horse. He always had a high opinion of his ability.

“He drew wide at his first run and had to go around runners. He couldn't get a run on the inside, and switched to the outside which was not the best part of the track, but it wasn't Azhar's fault.

“He's obviously trained on and tonight we decided to ride him quiet and have the last crack at them. He's only a small horse but he's a bulldog.”

Burridge did not fail to highlight the great association he has had with Azhar over the years.

“We go a long way. I've known him since my riding days in Malaysia and he was still an apprentice then,” said Burridge.

“He's won a lot of races for me. We've had a great association over the years and let's hope we have the same luck on Sunday.”

Azhar rode a Group winner for Burridge last year – Speed Baby in the Group 1 Patron's Bowl and rode the same horse in Sunday's $3 million Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m).

“He (Pitstop) was a little unlucky at his last start when he ran into a wet patch on the outside,” said the seven-time Malaysian champion jockey.

“In the home straight, he didn't know what to do for a while, but when a run came up on the inside, he finished very well.

“He's only a small horse but he's got a big heart. I don't think it mattered if he was on the rails tonight as he's got such a big heart and would have worked home from wherever he is.”

Joao Moreira who rode the highly fancied Super Good said the colt, owned in the same interests as champion three-year-old Super Good said the two-year-old was in a winning position during the race before finishing seventh.

“We had a good run through the race but he stumbled badly with 200m to run and just couldn't finish it off.”