Headline News;

Fortuna Racing scored a double Singapore 9^th July with Elliot Ness getting back into the Winners Circle and Trident (raced as Polaris in NZ) winning the Restricted Maiden at just his 2^nd Singapore start – see full story from Fortuna website below

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Fortuna has one runner this week – in Singapore

Singapore – Sunday 17^th  July

KING ARTHUR steps up to Class 1 Grade contesting the 1200m Turf event – Race 9 at 4pm Singapore time (8pm NZT) – Apprentice Fadzli Yusoff retains the ride with a 3kg allowance. This four year old son of I Am Invincible has taken all before him over the past few months notching seven wins since early October 2021, including his last win at Class 2 level which was his 1^st win on the Turf and picking up close to S$250k in prizemoney along the way – in super form and carries just 51 kgs in this event – strong each way chance

Here is what the Singapore Turf Club tipsters say about this race;

1st Pick: KING ARTHUR (6)
Looking to make it three on the trot after silencing his critics who said he was just a synthetic horse. Has been running slick times and has the form coming into this as a main danger. Stable going very well in recent weeks.

2nd Pick: GOLD STAR (3)
Drops back to his suited distance after competing over a mile which didn’t really suit him. His run two starts ago was full of merit when he defeated Lim’s Kosciuszko who looks the favorite in the derby. Big watch on him in this
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3rd Pick: FAME STAR (4)
Has been racing up against some handy gallopers in recent runs and is proven in this grade previously. Should show plenty of early speed and holds a strong course and distance record with three wins and four placings from nine starts.

4th Pick: HONGKONG GREAT (2)
Making his Singapore debut after competing in Hong Kong where he was a three-time winner over there from fourteen starts. So far has shown some ability in his trials and must be kept safe.

Fortuna Track work – Matamata

Tuesday 12^th July

No timed Fortuna trackwork today

Thursday 14th July

No timed Fortuna trackwork today

Fortuna Track work – Singapore

Saturday 9th July

Olympia (Jamil) – 800/600 37; Briggs (Aslam) – 800/600 38; Our Final Offer (Aslam) – 800/600 38.5; King Arthur (Jake) – 1000/600 39.5

Tuesday  12^th July

King Arthur (Yusoff) – 800/600 38.5; Our Final Offer (Aslam) – 900/600 38; Rocky (Aslam) – 1000/600 40

Fortuna Trialists Cambridge Synthetic 19^th July

MILESTONE, LEADERBOARD and ANGELS WINGS head to the Cambridge Trials next week

Other News

Fortuna Racing scores back to back double with ELLIOT NESS and TRIDENT winning at Singapore’s Kranji racecourse Saturday 9th July

It was doubles all around at Kranji on Saturday with the Donna Logan trained, Stable Apprentice Fadzli Yusoff ridden and Fortuna Racing owned ELLIOT NESS and TRIDENT taking out races 1 and 2, both with comfortable margins at the line.

For ELLIOT NESS it was a welcome return to the winner’s circle for the four year old son of Written Tycoon, not having greeted the judge since April of 2021 – a virus during the Spring of 2021 and then a bad foot injury in January had conspired to prevent him from showing his best. On resuming in May, two 4th placings had indicated he was on his way back to form. Drawn nicely in Barrier 4 in the Class 5 1100m Polytrack event, Yusoff got him away well and was able to take a sit behind the speed, was peeled out on turning for home and was too strong for the opposition in the run to the line, winning by 1.5 lengths.

Click HERE to see the Race Replay

Te Akau Racing’s Trainer Donna Logan was in buoyant spirits after the race “That was pretty to watch, the horse had been knocking on the door, he was beautifully ridden by Yusoff, who rode to instructions perfectly – it has been a long time between drinks for Elliot Ness, but he has not had all favours with illness and injury and he does hold the Kranji track record for 1100m and the addition of blinkers certainly helped today – a great outcome for the horse and his connections.”

Elliot Ness – 2nd Singapore Win – 9th July 2022

Expectations for TRIDENT running in the Restricted Maiden 1400m Turf were high – this after a strong 2nd placing on his Singapore debut over 1200m in the same grade two weeks ago and that on the back of two good winning trials – the 3yo son of Deep Field out of the Maki mare, Miss Fi, did not disappoint. Faced with a wide barrier draw, but not wanting to lead over 1400m, Donna Logan’s instuctions to Yusoff were very clear “get away well to secure a good spot, but then take a sit behind the speed” – the young rider executed those instructions to perfection, getting away nicely and then easing to run in 4th position – relaxing nicely in the run, the horse traveled well throughout – Yusoff eased him off the rail before the turn and on passing the 300m mark, asked Trident for an effort – the horse responded and bounded away with a winning break, going to the line with a margin of 1.3 lengths.

Click HERE to see the race replay

Post race Trainer Donna Logan was beaming – “That’s simply amazing to win the first two races on the day – to be honest, we always thought Trident was going to be hard to beat today, but he did have a tricky draw and so rider tactics were going to be important, but Yusoff rode to instructions perfectly – I am over the moon for Fortuna Racing, a double today and 12 wins for them so far in 2022 – John Galvin and his Fortuna Owners are such great supporters.”

 Trident – Singapore Debut win 9th July 2022

Fortuna Racing Director John Galvin was watching on from his home in Hamilton New Zealand and comments “Great results for us today with two winners from three runners – to be fair, I thought that both Elliot Ness and Trident could win – Elliot had been working himself back into form and Trident has not put a foot wrong in his preparation to date, but did have a wide draw to overcome – full credit to Yusoff, he is riding out of his skin and with great confidence. Well done to Donna Logan, her partner Peter Woods, who is just a great back up for her and all of the Stable support staff – Donna is making a great fist of the opportunity that Te Akau Racing Stables have provided her.”

ELLIOT NESS (who raced with the name PROHIBITION in Australia) was originally purchased as a Yearling at the 2019 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for A$675,000 as a Stallion prospect for an Ownership Group comprising the China Horse Club and other high profile owners. Trained by  Peter and Paul Snowden in Sydney, he trialed twice in May 2020 for a  4^th and a 6^th placing and after determining that his trial form indicated that he was not up to Stallion making ability plus the fact that he was very Colty and needed to gelded, he was put up for sale unreserved and John Galvin acquired  him  at the May 2020 Inglis Online Sale for just A$35,000. He has now won twice, had nine other prizemoney placing from 13 starts and has Stakes Earnings of S$100,000 for his Ownership Group consisting of 44 individuals from NZ, Australia and Hong Kong

TRIDENT was bred by Mrs H G & W G Bax & JML Bloodstock Ltd, was offered for sale at the 2020 Karaka Book One Sale by Blandford Lodge and was acquired by Davis Ellis on behalf of Fortuna Racing for $70,000 – initially prepared in NZ by Jamie Richards, and with the racename POLARIS, he had three starts in the Spring of 2021 for a 3rd and two 4ths – believing that he would be a 3yo who would benefit from a bit more maturity and development, Jamie recommended that his Ownership Group should consider relocating him to Singapore for his future racing career, a recommendation that was taken up by the majority of his ownership group. Trident has now had five starts for a win and four minor placings and earned over S$56,000 for his ownership group consisting of 49 individuals from NZ, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong

Fortuna acquires a Two Year Old by I Am Invincible for Singapore Racing – Knippenberg

Some key points about this acquisition

• By I Am Invincible – Australia’s current Champion Stallion
• Out of a 3 time winning mare (in Melbourne) who was twice placed at Group 2 level
• Mare has left two winners, both winning as 2yo’s
• Knippenberg was bred by his original racing ownership group and so did not go through the ring as a yearling – if he had done so the mind boggles as to what he would have made – but probably at least 10 times what we paid for him just recently
• Knippenberg showed good trial and raceday form, running 2^nd in his 2^nd trial and running 3^rd on his raceday debut

About The Two Year Old KNIPPENBERG

The 2yo Colt Knippenberg  is by Australia’s leading Stallion, I Am Invincible  out of the winning and Stakes placed Mare Red Fez – he has been acquired by Fortuna Racing for A$32,500 and will be sent to Singapore to race. He is to be gelded immediately and will agist in New South Wales for eight to ten weeks before flying to Singapore where he will join the other Fortuna Racing runners at the Te Akau Racing training complex at Kranji Racecourse, headed up by Donna Logan, who is currently sitting in the No 2 spot on the Singapore Trainer’s Premiership

As a non winner  Knippenberg will be eligible to contest Restricted Maiden Grade events in Singapore, a Grade which carries S$75,000 of prizemoney (approx NZ$83,000). Once winning in that Grade, he will then be eligible to race in Novice Grade, a Grade which also carries S$75,000 of prizemoney (approx NZ$83,000). As a Three Year Old in the 2022/2023 Season Knippenberg will be eligible for the very lucrative Three Year Old Series run during May and June 2023

Pedigree
KNIPPENBERG has an exceptionally strong Pedigree page – bred by his former Owners, Phoenix Thoroughbreds, he is by Australia’s Champion Stallion in I AM INVINCIBLE, the Sire of over 700 winners, including 79 Stakes winners. His Dam RED FEZ (by Red Ransom) won 3 times in Melbourne and was placed twice at Group 2 level – she is the dam of three foals to race (including Knippenberg) and the other two have won in Sydney/NSW. This is the family of the successful Stallions at Stud in Shooting To Win, Deep Field and Zed
Training & Race History

KNIPPENBERG was prepared by Ciarin Maher/David Eustace from their Warwick Farm base in Sydney for his International Owners, Phoenix Thoroughbreds – he had two trials in Sydney, the first April 22^nd, where he finished 5^th and the second on May 6^th finishing 2^nd. He then made his race day debut at Bathurst 26^th May finishing 3^rd beaten 1.9 lengths. He then raced at Goulburn 17^th June and was well beaten, but did strike a very “off” track and returned to scale with two black eyes, obviously being hit by a flying clod during the run. At that point his Owners, deciding that he was not up to Stallion making class, decided to sell him

Physical Type
Standing at 16 hands high and tipping the scales at 500kgs, KNIPPENBERG is an impressive physical type – he passed his vetting (conducted by Dr Ramiro Pellegrini) with flying colours – he scoped at Grade One, had no vices and his feet and limbs are in excellent order

Syndicator’s View

John Galvin comments on this latest acquisition “Knippenberg has a profile that is very typical of virtually all of the horses we have bought off the Inglis Digital platform in the past three years or so. A very well bred 2yo that is owned by a high profile Ownership Group, clearly with a Stallion career in mind, he has not shown the necessary race day form to give his Owners the confidence that he can be a Group One winning horse in Australia and so they moved him on. Horses we have acquired in recent years of this profile are Federation (6 Singapore wins), Brutus (5 Singapore wins), Entertainer (7 Singapore wins), King Arthur (7 Singapore wins), Red Rover (3 Singapore wins) plus Ellis Ness and Deception (1 Singapore win each). He has had two trials and two race day starts and shown us enough from those to indicate he can be a successful racehorse in Singapore. Vetting perfectly with a Grade One scope and sound of limb, he stands at 16 hands, tips the scales at around 500kgs and we are very happy to have acquired him”

Click HERE to see Knippenberg parading 30^th June

Trainers Views

Fortuna’s Singapore Trainer, Donna Logan comments about KNIPPENBERG

“This  is a lovely horse that John has acquired – I have viewed his trials and races and can see he has a very nice action – I have also obtained rider reports from those who have ridden him and those reports are very positive – to my eye, he is a horse who will benefit from being gelded and also more time to strengthen and mature – he will get that time as he agists in New South Wales before coming to Singapore – I am looking forward to having him in my barn in Singapore”

Former Four Time Champion Singapore Trainer, Mark Walker, now heading up the Te Akau New Zealand operation, assisted John Galvin in analysing KNIPPENBERG – he comments as follows “John and I have had much success in Singapore over the past three seasons buying horses out of the Australian On Line Sales with horses of just this type of profile – types that are by leading Sires, that are lightly raced and that have shown us enough from their Australian trials and races to suggest they can be very good race horses in Singapore. He vetted very well and is an impressive physical type in the mould of KING ARTHUR and DECEPTION, both also by I Am Invincible and impressive winners for Fortuna Racing in Singapore”

Terms

• Shares available right down to 1%.
• 10% share $9,000  – 5% share  $4,500 – 2.5% share $2,250 – 1% share $900 (all pricing in NZ$)
• Share price includes all Initial Costs (Purchase price, Promoters Fees, Transport to Singapore, Insurance through to 31st January 2023, and Working Capital of over $13,000 approx
• Monthly ongoing costs from 1^st September 2022 – from that date ongoing costs are – 10% share $400 per month – 5% share $200 per month – 2.5% share $100 per month – 1% share $40 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

Click HERE to view all details of Knippenberg on the Fortuna website  – orders can be placed from there also – Email John by return email or call/text 021 921 460 if you require more information

Guest Selector – Des Coppins

Des pick last week, Samina Bibi,  was scratched but those readers who were eagle eyed spotted that he was in Race 1 at Cambridge on Wednesday, winning nicely with some getting fixed odds on the win @ $5.50 – here is what Des has to say this week;

THERE’S an old meaningful quip in racing “Paste in Your Hat” which has  real relevance when it comes my weekly contribution. While we’ve had our share of decent collects in the brief time as an exclusive  “guest selector” to the Fortuna Friday Flash column I don’t always get it right. If only, eh?

Interestingly, however, horses like Kaikohe , Cross Roads and Hot Shockolate, who  have all been tipped out in recent weeks couldn’t deliver on the day but on their second or third time around, it’s win, win, win with Hot Shockolate doing the job in the mud at Hastings last Saturday!

The main act last Saturday at Te Rapa, Samina Bibi, who was an 11 to one chance at press time, unfortunately was scratched because of the track conditions and instead was saved for Cambridge on the all weather track midweek. She turned up trumps, too, in no uncertain terms. The odds were shorter than Saturday’s offering but some of us were able to grab the tasty $5.50 nevertheless. Well done if you stayed with her.

This week I’m heading to Trentham. It’s a big jumps day and I cannot recall the last time in July Trentham was inundated with nominations for the maiden hurdles with NZTR ultimately dividing the race into two! You’ll get my interesting selections for all the jumps races on my race tipping line on Saturday morning but for the Fortuna team early bird punters I’m plumping for Brucie in race 8.

I’m very supportive of trainers who play the apprentice allowance card at this time of the year when the tracks are testing and let’s be honest, Trentham in July is as tough as it gets. The fit ones will survive on Saturday and with three runs under his belt this season, Brucie should just about be ready to strike with the  3kg claimer Maria Sanson on board.

When he won at Te Aroha about this time last year Brucie covered the 2200m in 2.33 which is probably a Trentham-time-in-July and add a few more seconds! His last couple of runs have given me encouraging signs. Simply put, the track should suit him better than anything and at $6.50 and $2.20 I like the odds of one unit over three!

Good punting!

Des runs  his very popular phone tipping line (you can access this by calling 0900 45459 – note this incurs a charge of $2.99 per minute) – this service has been active for over 25 years and covers all NZ gallops from 8am each race day).