Friday Flash – 29th April

Headline News;
 
Khafeef wins Highweight event at Hawera with Shaun Fannin aboard – bringing up Fortuna’s 17th win so far in 2022

KHAFEEF – wins Hawera  27th April 2022

Singapore Turf Club re opens its doors to the public after two years of “crowd free” attendances
 

Fortuna has six runners this weekend – two in NZ, four in Singapore

New Zealand – Saturday 30th

Ragamuffin will contest the Group 3 Cambridge Breeders Stakes over 1200m at Te Rapa – Race 5 at 2.47pm and will be ridden by Jason Laking from an outside barrier – the winner of two in a row from just three career starts, he then failed to shine, this course this trip 16^th April after being away tardily and getting no favours in the run – meets a very strong field here, has a shocking draw to contend with and would need everything to go right to feature

Navalha  races in the Rating 65 1600m – Race 8 @ 4.34 pm – a 2^nd placing in the R74 1400 at Avondale and another 2^ndplacing in the R65 1400 at Te Rapa 16^th April is good form for this race – Opie Bosson to ride – steps up to 1600m for the first time and if he sees the trip out is a good each way chance

Singapore – Saturday 30th

Entertainer races in The Kranji Stakes B Turf event – Race 5 at 6pm NZT – a seven time winner in Singapore, he has been struggling to find form of late and this week races at a trip he has never won at and on a surface that he has never won on – does get a 3 kg allowance and the ace draw but is hard to have in this event

Hidden Promise contests the Class 5 1600 Polytrack event – Race 6 at 6.30pm NZT. This veteran nine year old has won seven races in Singapore in his long career, gets his favourite trip here and is on his winning mark – also carries a featherweight courtesy of Jerlyn Seow’s 3kg claim from a nice barrier draw – can run into the prizemoney here

Hadeer races in the Class 3 1200 Turf event – Race 8 at 7.30pm NZT – a 5 time career winner, Hadeer won three in a row in Singapore in the spring of 2021, has been running good races since without winning – Jake Bayliss rides from barrier 2 – an on pace runner, he can certainly feature in this event – each way

Brutus is in the same race – a 5 time winner in Singapore, including 4 wins since September, he was freshened after a victory in Class 4 this trip 13^th March. Leading rider Manoel Nunes sticks with him and he will jump from Barrier 3. Not always easy to make the transit from Class 4 to Class 3, but he is a talented galloper and represents a strong each way chance here

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

1st Pick: BRUTUS (9)
Holds a 50% first two placing when racing over this course and distance for the strong Logan stable. Looks well placed and with luck in the run will be in the multiples.
2nd Pick: PATTAYA (10)
Strong statistics for this race with two wins and a placing from three starts over this course and distance. There is only an eight-point spread for this race and looks a big player.
3rd Pick: HADEER (2)
On speed runner who likes to be up there and put the pressure on the field. Rates well for this and performs well in this class. Market watch.
4th Pick: CRYSTAL WARRIOR (5)
Looking for a hat-trick of wins but makes the shift to the turf after being dominant on the Polytrack at his last two starts. Trialed nicely since his last win and must be in contention.

Fortuna Track work – Matamata

Tuesday 26^th April

Leaderboard (N Parmar) worked at three quarter pace over 1200 metres in 1.15.4.

Navalha (O Bosson) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.01.87.

Soprano Supreme (H Durrant) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.3.2.

Thursday 28th April

Ragamuffin (N Parmar) galloped over the 1000 metres in 1.11.5, home in 40.8.
Navalha (O Bosson) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.08.2, home in 41.6.

Fortuna Track work – Singapore

Saturday 23rd April

Trident (Jamil) with Rocky (Aiman) – 600 41;

Tuesday 26th^th April

Briggs (Aslam) – 800 39; Brutus (Nunes) – 1000/600 39;

Guest Selector – Des Coppins
 
Hi John and Team – It was too difficult for my tip Mega Bourbon to eat into the two pacemakers big leads in the sprint last week. The rain came 12 hours later. Too little, too late for Mega Bourbon but no excuses really. He simply wasn’t on his A-game. He’ll keep. Let’s turn the page and focus on Saturday 30^th

I’m going to be greedy and look for a two-leg multi on Saturday but my confident levels are high.
My first leg is in race two at Te Rapa, The Fearless One. This horse has x-factor written all over him. After winning effortlessly on Oaks Day at Trentham he was allowed to freshen, won a sprint trial at Foxton and went to Woodville to run a game second to Sergio over a mile. He carried two kgs more and of course Sergio backed up to win the Anzac Mile on Monday at Awapuni. Trust me, only bad luck will stop The Fearless winning an important Cup race next year.

My second leg of the multi is Aris Aris who is in race 4 at Wanganui.
This filly impressed immensely at the trials before resuming at at Te Rapa with a game challenge against the talented Te Akau galloper, Cote de Beaune a fortnight ago.  She’s drawn to perfection and her acceleration will see her either leading or trailing the leader. I like her a lot.
When I filed this piece to John G the bookies odds weren’t available, but I’m hoping for a $5-$6 priced  multi with the pair.  At these odds I’d be very happy!

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).

Fortuna Shares for Sale

We have shares in two horses currently on our website – the proven two win Irish bred staying type MILESTONE, by Mastercraftsman, whom we have acquired to specifically contest the 2 Mile Cups races in the coming season and the Karaka Yearling, the Merchant Navy – Anchovy Colt “Salty”

MILESTONE, who had been agisting at Phoenix Park near Cambridge since arriving in NZ early March, is now at Catherine Cleghorne’s property at Waiuku Beach, where he will undergo 6 weeks of pre-traing in the beach environment before transferring to the care of Mark Walker at Matamata around the end of May – just 5% left in this nice staying type

“Salty” is now 5 weeks into his breaking in programme and is handling everything with aplomb – this fellow has been labelled as a “get up and go Two Year Old type” – just 6.5% left in this classy yearling

Both of these offerings can be viewed on the Fortuna website HERE