|
Indigenous finishes third in SA International Cup, Olympic Express
fourth
Indigenous earned connections another
big international pay cheque with a fine third placed run behind
Grandera and Paolini in the Singapore Airlines International
Cup (Gr.1-2000m), the third leg of the World Series Racing Championship.
Olympic Express, the other Ivan Allan-trained
runner in the S$3 million showpiece, finished a very creditable
fourth.
Following his excellent third in the Audemars
Piguet QEII Cup last month, Indigenous' terrific effort at
Kranji means that the veteran campaigner is now in fourth place
in the World Series standings on eight points. The Godolphin-trained
Grandera leads the table on 14 points with Street Cry
and Eishin Preston tied on 12 points apiece.
Western Pride cut out early speed
in the Cup as Indigenous settled about four lengths behind
on the fence with Olympic Express a couple of lengths further
back and three wide. Off the home turn Paolini came out of
the pack to lead, but Grandera soon overhauled him and shot
clear to register a two lengths success with another two and a half
lengths and two and a quarter lengths back to the Hong Kong runners.
The time of the race was 2 minutes and 1.3 seconds.
"I'm very pleased with both my horses,"
said trainer Ivan Allan. "Olympic Express is improving.
Last year he would have finished lengths behind Grandera
but his performance shows he is closing the gap. Indigenous
has run another very honest race. I would love to be able to put
his heart into a three-year-old."
Allan added that Indigenous would
contest the ING Hong Kong Champions & Chater on Sunday, May
19. A decision on the participation of Olympic Express in
the final leg of Hong Kong's Triple Crown has been deferred. Both
horses will return to Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Indigenous' jockey Olivier Doleuze
said: "They went fast through the early stages and I just followed
the pace. He couldn't match the winner and the runner-up in the
straight but he has a very big heart and he has given me everything.
He raced like a four-year-old! I'm very proud of him."
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong
Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director of Racing, was "very
pleased with the result."
He said: "That a nine-year-old like
Indigenous can perform like that against some of the best
horses in the world is remarkable. Olympic Express deserves
credit also having been forced to race wide and come from behind.
This young horse will continue to progress."
With the newly promoted International Group 1 status,
the Singapore Airlines sponsored International Cup is officially
accredited as one of the stops in the 2002 World Series Racing Championship.
This race does not only meet the minimum requirement of at least
US$ 1 million, it actually offers a generous S$ 3 million(approx.
US$1.6 million) to the first six finishers in the race.
The local favorite Ouzo captured
the inaugural running, and last year's second running of the race
was taken by the British raider of Endless Hall under a brilliant
gate-to-wire ride from Jamie Spencer.
The 2002 running promised to be another
exciting renewal with many star quality entries from around the
globe. Hong Kong is sending a powerful team of two, which include
former Hong Kong Champion Indigenous and 2002 Hong Kong Derby
winner Olympic Express to face the likes of Jim And Tonic,
Terre A Terre, Hawkeye, Grandera and local favorite Bocelli.
|
