3 minute read

Unfancied galloper Cavallo blew punters out of the water when he came with a barnstorming run to land the top prize in the $125,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m on Friday night.

With heavyweights like Huka Falls, Dark Matter and Davide in the small seven-horse line-up, not many brave souls could conceivably see the Testa Rossa four-year-old claim such big scalps, especially after he beat one home in the Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) won by Mr Big four weeks ago.

But Cavallo ($160), who was previously trained by Michael Freedman and who won at his first race for trainer Sam Chua before his dismal Jumbo Jet run, rebounded in the best possible way under an inspired ride by jockey John Sundradas to go and register his fifth win from 14 starts at Kranji.

Dropped back to last upon despatch, Cavallo was content to watch proceedings from the tail-end as Matterhorn (Alan Munro) pressed forward for the lead with $8 favourite Huka Falls (Corey Brown) and Davide (Barend Vorster) in close attendance while Dark Matter (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) looked a little outpaced, travelling three deep at the rear.

Matterhorn kept up a steady tempo to the race before raising it a notch upon straightening. Brown was already hard at work, but Huka Falls was not cutting much ice in the middle of the track while Davide was desperately trying to extricate himself from his air-tight pocket on the rails.

Keep Away (Manoel Nunes) was also chiming in as he poked his head on the outside, but could not quite settle the issue as well as he remained somewhat one-paced. But when Davide finally found daylight between runners and dashed through for what seemed like a decisive burst, many thought the Argentinian-bred was well on his way to collect his seventh victory for trainer Patrick Shaw and owner Fred Crabbia.

While all eyes were glued on the riveting battle unfolding upfront, nobody had in the meantime paid much attention to the horse who had stealthily crept up on the outside. Well ridden by John, Cavallo unleashed a blinding turn of foot inside the last 200m to finish right on the top of them, scoring by half-a-length from Davide with Keep Away staying on well for third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.13secs.

Huka Falls weakened to finish fifth about 4 ½ lengths off the winner for his third defeat in his last four runs from a spell, while Dark Matter, who was back in Kranji after a resounding success from a sole outing in Kuala Lumpur, took last place for the other flop of the race.

Chua admitted he did not give his ward a bright chance in such stiff company, but did harbour a silent hope after the track took a bit of soaking, not to mention the luxury handicap (52kg) he had on his back.

“To be honest, there was not much stable confidence in him tonight, but I think the light weight helped him a lot,” said the Singaporean conditioner. “He’s actually better on Polytrack as well, but I think a bit of give in the ground suited him tonight.

“In the Jumbo Jet Trophy, I told the owner to forget the run as the track was too hard and he carried too much weight (57.5kg).

“He was also coming back from 1000m and stepping up to 1400m which was probably too far for him.

“I told John there would be plenty of speed in the race tonight, and to just drop him and ride him where he felt comfortable. When he switched out wide at the top of the straight, I thought he had a chance as it was on the Long Course.

“He was the forgotten horse tonight, but he’s proven he’s always been a horse with ability. I will probably look for a Kranji Stakes A race on Polytrack for him next.”

John, who first got aboard the Beverly Hill Stable-owned gelding in the Jumbo Jet Trophy, said he went into the race with an open mind, but he knew his horse oozed enough class to redeem himself and spring an upset.

“There was no way I could beat the early speed and I just rode him for luck at the back,” said John.

“With his light weight and the long course, I gave him a small chance as I knew he was not without class.

“He gave me a very powerful kick in the end and I knew he would be right up there in the end. He’s a very nice horse.”

Cavallo has now amassed prizemoney in excess of $280,000, the bulk of which was earned by his previous connections, the Mummify Stable when prepared by Freedman, before he was acquired by his new owners.