Friday Flash – 25th November 2022

Headline News;

Positive News from the Singapore Turf Club on its Feature Races programming

Two Year Old Filly by Dundeel acquired at the NZ Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale – still shares left

Fortuna Annual Owners Day – Matamata Racecourse – Sunday 4^th December

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Fortuna has four runners this Saturday, two in NZ and two in Singapore

Te Rapa – Saturday 26^th

Soprano Supreme runs in the Rating 75 2400 – Race 1 @ 11.55 and will be ridden again by Stable Apprentice, Parmar Singh, claiming 2kgs – after putting in two average performances on resuming, she was much better last start this track running home strongly over 2200m for a 4^th placing. She will relish the trip and should handle the wet track – is a good each way chance in this

Wanganui – Saturday 26^th
INCA BELLE, a recent winner on debut at Pukekohe Park, contests the 3yo Set Weights and Penalties over 1200 – Race 2 @ 1.15pm and will be ridden again by Joe Kamaruddin, claiming 1kg from a good barrier. Winning debut was strong, she has trained on well, meets four other last start winners here and does need to handle what could be a very testing track – can run in the money here if she handles the conditions

Singapore – Saturday 26^th

OLYMPIA contests the Class 5 1000m Poly event – Race 5 @ 2pm Singapore time (7pm NZT) and will be ridden by Yusoff, claiming 2kgs, from a widish barrier. Racing very well without winning of late, is always in contention – is a top 3 chance in this

BRUTUS contests the Class 3 1200m Turf event – Race 12 @ 5.30pm Singapore time (10.30pm NZT) and will be ridden by Stable Apprentice, Sarwi Jamil claiming 4kgs, from an outside barrier – a five time winner in Singapore he has not greeted the judge since March. Loves to race on the speed and will push forward from the draw – will need a lot of luck but if he gets it, can feature in the finish

Fortuna Track work – Matamata

No timed Fortuna trackwork this week

Fortuna Track work – Singapore

Saturday  19th November

Brutus (Dennis) – 800/600 37;

Tuesday   22nd November

Brutus (Jamil) – 800/600 38;

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Other News

Positive News from the Singapore Turf Club on its Feature Races programming

The Singapore Racing Fixtures from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 have been released, with a total of 20 feature races, 10 more than the current racing season, and the reinstatement of four iconic race series. Developed in close consultation with trainers and the racing community, the fixtures for the new racing season aims to elevate the sport of horse racing in Singapore by offering more feature races for runners.

“In our conversations with trainers, they have asked that we prioritise raising the quality of races and we have answered with the doubling of feature races and the return of popular race series. The revamped racing fixtures is particularly designed to bring greater prestige to the sport when runners have more feature races at their disposal. Race series takes the sport to a higher level by challenging the tenacity of champion horses and offering them additional impetus to excel. The new fixtures ensure a progressive pathway for our racehorses, and I am looking forward to how trainers will be building their racehorse profiles and strategies for the new racing season to take full advantage of the fixtures and series,” said Dayle Brown, Chief Racing Officer of the Singapore Turf Club (STC).

There will be 48 race meetings, slated as 37 Saturday meetings and 11 Sunday meetings, in which two meetings will fall on Public Holidays. The two meetings are held on a Saturday – 22 April 2023 (Group 2 EW Barker Trophy meeting on Hari Raya Puasa) and on a Sunday – 11 February 2024 (Group 3 Fortune Bowl meeting on second day of Chinese New Year) respectively. Among the 48 race meetings, 23 meetings will feature 11 races each while 25 of them will have 12 races each. The 12-race meetings on the cards are all the 18 feature race meetings, the six meetings after the conclusion of Hong Kong’s 2022/2023 season (23 and 30 July, 6, 13, 20 and 27 August) and the penultimate meeting of the year on 25 November.

The last meeting of the year will conclude with the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes meeting on 2 December and the industry will then have a four-week break during the festive season, before resuming in 2024 with the Group 3 New Year Cup meeting on 6 January.

Re-introduction of 10 feature races
Ten feature races will be re-introduced and added to the current line-up of 10 feature races. While eight of the current feature races had been run this year, the Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) and the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) are slated to be run on 4 February and 25 March next year. With the release of the new fixtures, both feature races will be run twice in 2023, with the second running of the Raffles Cup on 23 September and the Merlion Trophy on 28 October. The second Raffles Cup will be held as the first leg of the reinstated Singapore Triple Crown series, while the second Merlion Trophy will still be run as a standalone sprint feature race.

Nine of the 10 feature races making a return on the new fixtures were discontinued in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic struck, except for the Group 3 Kranji Sprint (1200m), which was renamed the Group 3 Rocket Man Sprint (1200m) in 2017 in a move by STC to name races to honour past greats. The Rocket Man Sprint was last run in 2020 and will now return as another race alongside the Kranji Sprint. Among the six Group 1 races, four Group 2 races and 10 Group 3 races to be held, the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) and the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1600m) will be run on the same day on 20 May while the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) and the Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe (1200m) will be held on 23 July.

Reinstatement of four race series
Four race series will be brought back in the 23/24 racing season, namely the Singapore Triple Crown series, the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge series, the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge series and the newly named STC Super Sprint series, which replaces the former Singapore Sprint Series that was discontinued in 2019.

All four race series comprise of three races each. The Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge series will be the first of the race series to be run in the first half of 2023. It is made up of the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) and the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m), with both legs held in April, as well as the resumption the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1600m), which will be run in May as the third and final leg. Next up, the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge series will see the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m) run in June, followed by the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and culminate with the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m). Both races will be run in July.

The STC Super Sprint series will have the Group 3 Kranji Sprint (1200m) run as the first leg in June, the Group 3 Rocket Man Sprint (1200m) as the second leg and the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) as the third leg, both set to be held in August. Towards the later half of the season, the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m), the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) and the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) that make up the three legs of the Singapore Triple Crown series will be run in September, October and November respectively.

For the STC Super Sprint and the Singapore Triple Crown series, the winning owners of the horses that make a clean sweep of all three legs of each series will be awarded a bonus prizemoney of $100,000 each.

John comments “Clearly this is a great initiative on the part of the STC – to be fair, prizemoney for Restricted Maiden, Novice and Grade races has remained unchanged during the pandemic induced cutback and our runners and Owners have continued to earn excellent levels of prizemoney, however the re-introduction of the Feature races has lifted the spirits of Trainers, Owners and Administrators. While the announcement has only been made this week, it was not a particularly well kept secret and Singapore Trainers, in anticipation of this announcement, have been splashing out at the three recent Two Year Old Sales, Inglis Ready2 Race, Magic Millions 2yo and NZ Bloodstock Ready To Run. In total, Singapore Trainers have acquired 74 2yos at those three sales, compared to just 16 in 2021. These initiatives are bound to increase public attendance at Kranji and subsequent increases in turnover are bound to feed through into increased prizemoney in the medium term.

As readers would be aware Fortuna Racing has been a strong supporter of Singapore Racing since 2010 and we continued to send new horses up there throughout the Covid period. So for us it is “business as usual” but with a heightened sense of anticipation with the re-introduction of the Feature Race programme – notable also that as we struggle here in NZ with difficult weather conditions and trials and race day abandonments, that every single programmed race day at the STC has gone ahead as planned“

Two Year Old Filly by Dundeel acquired at the NZ Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale – still shares left

75% committed already, shares are moving steadily – $5,500 for each 5% share and we do shares down to 1% – Click HERE to order off our website page

Lot 320, the 2yo Filly by Dundeel out of Vivi Veloce (by More Than Ready) was knocked to the bid of Fortuna Racing/David Ellis 17th November at the NZ Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. Acquired for New Zealand/Australian racing, this Filly presents as a lovely physical type, and has the pedigree to match.

This Filly was identified initially by Mark Walker out of the breeze ups, demonstrating a lovely action and breezing up in a good time. Subsequent physical examinations by Mark, David Ellis and Marcus Corban had her firmly on the “buy” list and knowing that I wanted to acquire a Middle Distance/Staying type Filly at this sale, she was earmarked for Fortuna Racing provided that we could get her for budget. She vetted perfectly on the  morning of the sale, so we were all set.

Being late in the sale, we were taking a bit of a risk, in that if she went over budget, we could walk away from the sale empty handed, however I set a budget of $120k and amazingly, she was knocked down to us for just $60k which I was not expecting – it had been a very strong sale and perhaps being late in the sale was to our advantage as those buyers seeking fillies may well have filled their orders – sometimes you get lucky!!!

Mark Walker who will train this Filly for us from the Te Akau Training  Stables at Matamata, has this to say about our new acquisition;

“John, once again you have done very well here on price – I was particularly drawn to her breeze up gallop, she had a very strong and correct action and to my eye looked to be a genuine middle distance staying type of Filly with a very strong pedigree page. When I inspected her in the flesh at the sales, I was only more pleased with her – she is a lovely physical type who may well be a contender for the 3yo races in the Spring of 2023, but will certainly come into her own as an Autumn 3yo with races like the NZ Oaks a logical target for her”

Click HERE to go to view her breeze up gallop (outside runner in purple silks)
Click HERE to view her parade Video

This Filly had been prepared for the RTR Sale by master horseman Chad Ormsby at his Riverrock  Farm establishment in the Waikato

The Dundeel – Vivi Veloce Two Year Old Filly

Pedigree

By the Group One winning Stallion, DUNDEEL, now the Sire of 225 winners including 18 Stakes winners, this Filly also boasts an extremely strong distaff side being out of the More Than Ready mare, Vivi Veloce, a Group 3 winner in South Australia and the dam of two foals to the races to date – both winners. The grand dam Royal Sash (Royal Academy) won 6 times in Australia including the Mannerism Stakes at Group 3 level – this is a very stout pedigree – Click HERE to see her pedigree

Fortuna Director John Galvin says
“It is always very satisfying to set your sights on a horse you really like, set a budget and then secure it at or under budget – this Filly was the one we wanted and we waited and waited and our patience paid off – she is a lovely physical type who ticked all the boxes during our inspection process and she looks to be a great addition to the Fortuna Racing Team”

This Filly is now agisting at Te Akau Stud for four to six weeks – during this time she will strengthen and mature  –  Mark Walker will get her into the Stables around the end of December for her first Te Akau Stable preparation which may well lead to a trial in the Autumn and potentially a  start or two as a 2yo late Autumn to gain race day experience.
The all up syndicated cost for this Filly is NZ $110,000 – this includes purchase price, GST on Promoters fees, insurance through to January 2024 and over $12,000 of working capital

Disclosure Statement & Agreement
View and/or Download the Disclosure Statement and the Syndicate Agreement for this syndicate

Terms
The all up syndicated cost is NZ $110,000 – this includes purchase price, GST, Promoters fees, insurance through to January 2024 and just over $12,000 of working capital.

• Shares available right down to 1%.
• 10% share $11,000 – 5% share  $5,500– 2.5% share $2,750 – 1% share $1,100 (all pricing in NZ$)
• Share price includes all Initial Costs (Purchase price, GST, Promoters Fees, , Insurance through to 31st January 2024, and Working Capital of $12,000 approx
• Monthly ongoing costs from 1^st January 2022 – from that date ongoing costs are – 10% share $440 per month – 5% share $220 per month – 2.5% share $110 per month – 1% share $44 per month.
• Monthly ongoing costs can alternatively be paid up to 12 months in advance as an option for subscribers by Bank Payment or Credit Card

Fortuna Annual Owners Day – Matamata Race Course – Sunday 4^th December

One week to go – if you wish to attend please register your attendance as we need to know for catering purposes

Venue – Epsom Lounge – Matamata Race course
Date – Sunday 4^th December
Time – 1pm to 4pm
Format – Meet and Greet, light refreshments, Review of 2022 Calendar Year, Parade of all of the Fortuna Matamata based horses
Special Guest – Mark Walker

Guest Selector – Tom Waterhouse

Tom’s selection last week, Detonator Jack, looked all over the winner down the home straight but was run down last few strides, finishing 2nd. Here is what Tom says this week “Ascot Race 8 #2 Vilana – In terrific form this campaign. Fast pace suits.”

Tom’s tipping service is available by subscription (at a cost of course) with a whole range of packages – far too many mention here, but for example, there is a Daily Best Bet, where subscribers receive a daily email (there is also an App), a Weekly Five Best package and for Saturday racing, a Gold Package giving 20 bets for the day and a Silver Package giving 5 bets for the day – all of Tom’s packages provide historical data and, most importantly, a staking strategy and there is a package for every budget

Click HERE to visit Tom’s website

I am a subscriber myself and have enjoyed considerable success with the Silver Package (which has provided an average 18.4% Profit on Turnover and a 419.8% return on investment since inception in 2018) and can thoroughly recommend Tom’s services. Notable that the “Best Bet” from the Silver Package has produced 16 winners from the last 20 selections!!!