Singapore Turf Club
Per Incanto three-year-old Per Incharge (NZ) certainly lived up to his name by showing who was the boss in the $85,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1400m on Friday night.
After knocking on the door at his first two starts when third and second in two 1200m events, Per Incharge showed a sizzling acceleration to put his rivals to the sword once he was given his head by jockey Vlad Duric.
The newly-crowned Singapore champion jockey never panicked even after his mount made a meal of his start from barrier No 1, railing through to settle on the fence behind a bunch of five runners who were going hell-for-leather upfront.
Loath to get stuck in that spot for too long, Duric eased Per Incharge off the rails just before the home turn, deftly angling around the outside before pushing the button once he had him balanced up in the home straight.
Per Incharge went on to assert his superiority as he sped before the Grandstand, even if he was inclined to roll in as he swept past the field, greeting the judge by 3 ½ lengths from the fast-finishing Kranji Gold (Michael Rodd) with Bangkok Boy (Glen Boss) who made play and eventually ran third another three-quarter length away. The winning time was 1min 23.48secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
“He messed up his start. He is a big green bugger, but when I peeled him out at the top of the straight, I had that much horse under me,” said Duric.
“He was laying in but like I said, he is still very new. There is still plenty of improvement to come out of him.
“(Trainer Mohd) Yusof’s horse (Turf Champion) was in a handy spot throughout. Nooresh’s horse (Destiny Knight) put up a good fight, but my bloke never gave up.”
While Duric did not have to resort too much to the whip on Per Incharge, his renowned vigour with the persuader was certainly more accentuated when seen extracting the best out of Turf Champion to outslug a very resistant Destiny Knight (Nooresh Juglall) on the inside.
As for Per Incharge’s trainer, Leticia Dragon, she has already earmarked the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge for the New Zealand-bred raced by the Strong Stable.
“The step-up to 1400m suited him, and I think he will get even better over more ground,” said Dragon.
“I switched the blinkers to winkers tonight as he was going over 1400m this time.
“He is a lovely horse and he looks like a 3YO series horse. Hopefully, he makes it.”
The Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge kicks off with the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on March 30 followed by the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) on April 22 before culminating with the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) on May 18. -STC