3 minute read

Argentinian-bred galloper Great Light reproduced his last-start winning effort to score another slashing win on Sunday.

Stepped up to Open Benchmark 89 company in a race over 1100m, Great Light (Joao Moreira) who had come from the rear to make away with top prize right on the outside at his last run over a similar distance but in a Class 3 race three weeks ago, was just as authoritative in the way he raced away inside the last 100m, scoring by just under two lengths from the dead-heating pair of Fighter Jet (Shafiq Rizuan) and Rapido Star (Ivaldo Santana).

Rank-outsider Bionic Boy (Tengku Rehaizat) looked like he could upset the applecart when he hit the front at the 300m, but could not quite keep up to eventually finish fourth another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 6.01secs.

Heavy thunderstorm and lightning forced the race to be delayed by an hour, and while trainer Michael Clements was not too worried about how the All-Weather track would ride, he did have some concerns about Great Light’s headgear.

“I thought about taking off the blinker-pacifiers for a minute when it started to rain heavily,” said Clements. “But the thing is he needs the pacifiers and I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“I remember I once took them off another runner after it started raining, and the eyes were all covered up after that. I discussed with Joao, and we eventually decided to leave them on.

“I think the fact that it had stopped raining for a good half-an-hour, the track had dried up a little better this time.”

It proved an astute decision as the Pure Prize five-year-old never looked uncomfortable in spite of the atrocious conditions, aided in large part by some expert navigation from his rider.

“I was a bit worried that a lot of sand will get stuck on the net of the pacifiers, but I was able to race him in a spot where he was not getting much kickback,” said Moreira.

“He handled the track very well and I kept riding him along in the home straight. We got a clear run, but then he took a while to change his stride.

“Luckily, he responded to my riding, and he was just too good in the end. He’s a very nice genuine horse.”

Clements said he had not mapped out any ambitious plans for the Happy Song Stable-owned gelding, who has now recorded four wins, all on Polytrack, from 15 starts. A previous one-time winner at his only start in Argentina, Great Light has now taken his prizemoney past the $210,000 mark.

“I’ll probably keep him to similar races on Polytrack, and if he goes through his grade, I may look at a feature sprint for him at some stage,” he said.

“This horse has really stepped up and he really likes the Polytrack. He’s not the easiest horse to train as he lightens up so fast and I have to space his runs.

“I think he lost seven kilos from his last win, but he still won well today. He was up against a strong field and he’s measured up very comfortably.”

Even-money favourite Texan Takeover (Manoel Nunes) raced in a handy spot and even rolled to the front at the top of the straight, but compounded in the end to run seventh.