By Sharon Zhang, Singapore Turf Club
Preditor proved that he was as good as gold after claiming the $70,000 Class 3 race over the mile on Sunday.
Trainer Shane Baertschiger saddled three runners for the race, but after Summer Wind was scratched, he was left with Preditor and Hardcore. Magic Wand came out too, hence it was down to five runners in the highlight race of the day.
Both Pennywise (Vlad Duric) and Preditor (Jake Bayliss) were forward in their runs upon jumping, but the latter opted to camp outside in second as they made their first turn into the backstraight under a slow pace set by the leader.
Hardcore (Matthew Kellady) was third on the rails with Nowyousee (Marc Lerner) one-off in fourth, and Luck Of Master (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) settling at the tail. The order remained largely unchanged until they swung for home for the final assault.
As class-dropper Pennywise was being dug up by Duric on the rails and Nowyousee was homing in on the outside, Bayliss wielded the persuader on Preditor at the 300m before the $91 shot raced past Pennywise to spring an upset.
Stablemate Hardcore motored home to run three-quarters-of-a-length behind in second, while Nowyousee ran third another head away.
The winning time was 1min 40.7 secs for the 1600m on the Polytrack.
Formerly known as Predator when he raced in New Zealand, the 10-year-old son of Savabeel stepped into Baertschiger’s stable six years ago and has now won seven races from 63 starts, amassing more than $660,000 in prizemoney for his trainer and owner.
The old warrior’s highest achievement to-date was when he beat ex-Kranji top galloper Debt Collector into second in the Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) in 2018 under a well-timed ride by Hong Kong’s visiting apprentice jockey Matthew Poon.
He had to wait four more years to welcome his next win in a Class 4 race over 1200m in July 2022. Though age has caught up with Preditor, he is sound as a bell, hence his Australian handler has no plans to retire him as yet.
“It’s a bit of a feat for a 10-year-old to win a Class 3 race,” said Baertschiger.
“It’s a small field and being down in the weights, I thought both my horses (Preditor and Hardcore) would run well.
“His previous owner has written him off, but I own the horse now and I’m the lucky beneficiary, which is good.
“We’ve kept the horse sound for so long. He’s been here since he was four, so it’s good to get another win out of him.
“He’s honest and sound, so he will keep on racing till he can’t.”
First-time race-partner Bayliss said the lightweight worked in Preditor’s favour in a five-horse field.
“It’s quite tactical in a small field. We ran along quite nicely, he was in rhythm and breathing,” said the baby-faced rider.
“I rode him in trackwork a couple of times and he’s quite a handful, but he gave me a lovely ride today.
“There was not much speed, so we were happy to sit outside of Pennywise, keep him honest and the pressure on since he’s (Preditor) got only 53.5(kgs), the difference in weight is an advantage.
“When Vlad asked the question to Pennywise at the 550m, he didn’t respond. My bloke was travelling so I let him start improving and he got there so easily.
“When I asked him for an effort at the corner, he just put a gap on them. He was really brave to the line.”
Following the Singapore Turf Club’s announcement of jockeys’ and apprentice jockeys’ licences for 2023 on Thursday, Bayliss and fellow Australian rider Danny Beasley’s names were missing among the list of expatriate jockeys relicensed.
After nine months of riding in Singapore, the young Australian has decided not to take up a new licence next year.
“I’m going home to enjoy the company of my family and loved ones, stuff that I’ve really missed about home,” he said.
“Singapore’s been fantastic to me. I won my first Group 1 winner (Prosperous Return) here (in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup) and got more than I’ve expected, but sometimes, you just can’t beat being home.”
Six expatriate jockeys were given licences for the new year, namely Duric, Lerner, Manoel Nunes, Louis-Philippe Beuzelin and Ronnie Stewart, who all get a one-year licence each while Bernardo Pinheiro will begin a nine-month riding stint in Singapore from April 1.
