Improved barrier manners paved the way to victory for Eatons Gold in the $55,000 Class 4 Stakes over 1000m on the Polytrack on Friday night.
Ridden by Manoel Nunes, Eatons Gold, well supported late in betting to return a $24 dividend, scored by a length from Mighty Creation (Oscar Chavez) with Mac Volks (Lisa Allpress) a length-and-a-quarter away third.
Sometimes tardy at the barriers, Eatons Gold was on his best behavior on Friday night and was one of the first to begin.
Eatons Gold (Manoel Nunes) races away to a comfortable win in Race 3 on Friday night.
After jumping smartly, Nunes allowed Eatons Gold to settle in third position behind Big Sequalo (A’Isisuhairi ‘Harry’ Kasim) and Probo Chandroso (Mark Gallagher).
Mac Volks, which knuckled on jumping and was then forced wide on the first turn, made a run around then field before the hometurn to move into second place behind Big Sequalo and as a consequence Eatons Gold was shuffled back to fifth position on straightening.
Big Sequalo and Mighty Creation soon got the better of Big Sequalo with Eatons Gold held up behind that pair, but ready to pounce.
A gap appeared between the two leaders with 200m to run and Nunes drove Eatons Gold between the pair, hitting the lead 75m from home and then going on to record a strong win.
Trainer Mark Walker said a lot of hard work had gone into mending the barrier manners of Eatons Gold.
“He was good in the gates tonight and that was the secret to his success,” said Walker. “The staff has done a lot of work on this horse and he behaved.
“He’s slowly getting there, but just when you think you’ve got him he can turn around and do something wrong.
“Tonight he pinged out and that really helped him and he was able to get a good trail into the race as well.
“Nunes is riding so well at the moment and he galloped him on Saturday morning and said he was in good order.”
An Australian-bred five-year-old by Jet Spur from Road Ranger, Eatons Gold has now won four of his 25 starts in Singapore and with six minor placings has now topped the $200,000 mark in prizemoney for Fortuna NZ Racing.
“It’s good for Fortuna to get another winner,” said Walker. “They have been great supporters of ours since we started off up here and this horse has now won over $200,000 in prizemoney.
“It’s the best prizemoney in the world for these types of horses.”
