By Larry Foley, Singapore Turf Club
Prosperous Return handed jockey Jake Bayliss his first Group 1 win in Singapore after he motored home to claim the $300,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) on Saturday.
Mooted as a wide-open race, punters made the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained Relentless (Manoel Nunes) the $14 favourite in the iconic feature, with Hongkong Great (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) the second-elect at $23 and most others providing value, including the winner who had wide gate no.12 to contend with.
After jumping, Hongkong Great matched motors early with his stablemate Senor Don (Krisna Thangamani) and the favourite backers would have been more than happy to see Nunes having Relentless handy enough with cover from his wide alley.
Meanwhile, Bayliss had taken his medicine after a slow start from his wide gate to ease and settle near the back of the 14-horse field.
Beuzelin tried to make every post a winner when Hongkong Great kicked at the 700m but at the same time, Bayliss was quietly making up ground at the back of the field to give Prosperous Return every possible chance on turning for home.
Hongkong Great looked to be cruising at the 400m and have the race at his mercy with Relentless caught up in some traffic. His only danger looked to be Prosperous Return who had loomed large as the widest runner.
In fact, it was more than just looming given he swooped to head the peaking Hongkong Great at the 200m mark. While Sacred Croix (Wong Chin Chuen) and Minister (Matthew Kellady) grew wings late to finish second and third respectively, Prosperous Return never looked in doubt over the concluding stages.
The official margin was a neck by a nose while Circuit Mission (Benny Woodworth) and Hongkong Great ran another length away, dead heating in fourth.
The winning time was 1 min 47.32 secs over 1800m on the Long Course, and the winning payout was at a generous odds of 17-1.
Winning trainer Michael Clements watched on from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia and while he was not surprised by the win, he was over the moon with the result.
“We know the horse had the ability to win a race like this but he overcame a few things to do it today,” said Clements, who was travelling between horse auctions in Australia.
“He had the bleeding attack to overcome – it wasn’t major, but a setback – and things didn’t go his way last start (in the Class 1 race over 1600m on September 24).
“And he did it the hard way today. As Jake said, he had to go to plan C after missing the start and for him to win from there, it was a big effort.
“Really pleased that the hard work from the stable staff gets rewarded.”
Assistant-trainer Michael White was deputising for Clements on the day and the Australian was full of praise for the jockey who had not always been the flavour of the month with the stable.
“With Jake, we had a ‘love/hate’ relationship when he first came to Singapore,” explained the honest White to racing presenter Scott Bailey after the race.
“But it was a twelve-out-of-ten ride as it definitely wasn’t the plan to go back like that, so he summed the race up when the horse was slow out.
“He put him in the race when he needed given the (track) bias and he was strong to the line, so all credit to Jake.”
When asked about the 2000m trip of the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup to be held five weeks later, White was bullish.
“No doubt the older he gets, the more relaxed he is in his racing,” he said.
“He’s going in the right direction, particularly being a former bleeder.
“I think with (the addition of) some head gear in the Gold Cup, you’ll see a different horse again.”
The win was Bayliss’s first Group 1 win at Kranji and the Australian jockey was relieved the big decision to ride in Singapore has paid off.
“I took a punt to come here and left everything I love behind,” said an emotional Bayliss.
“Luckily I’ve got my beautiful girlfriend Hollee (Bohr) to support me and a great stable like Michael Clements behind my back, and obviously (trainer) Donna Logan and Tim are a big part of this as well.”
Of the race tactics; all bets were off after Prosperous Return missed the start.
“The game plan was that they weren’t making ground today, so I thought I could use him out of the gates a little bit early and try to put him in the first four,” he explained.
“But we bombed the start, so I went to plan C. They really steadied up at the 700m, so I got on my bike and rolled three wide and let him rip at the top of the straight.
“I rode him too cute last time and he didn’t quicken so I made sure I was on the ball and made sure I was there on the corner because they haven’t been making ground.
“It’s paid off. He was weary late but bring on the Gold Cup!”
When asked where this win stood in his career, Bayliss didn’t hesitate.
“It’s the top, definitely the top!” said the popular young hoop.
“I always had a dream of riding in Singapore. When I won the Group 2 race (with Golden Monkey in the Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic), I was on a high for three weeks. I will be on a high for a hell of a lot longer now.”
The win – Prosperous Return’s seventh from 14 starts – took his career prizemoney to over $440,000 for the Tivic Stable.
