Singapore Sling (Philanthropist) cemented his candidacy for next month’s HK$18m Hong Kong Derby with an upset success in the HK$10m Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin last Sunday. “It’s a fantastic day,” jockey Chad Schofield, said. “To win the two feature races is a privilege. It was my birthday a couple of days ago, so it was the ideal present.” Singapore Sling returned at 9/1 in a market dominated by Nothingilikemore (Husson), the only horse who finished ahead of the South African import in last month’s Hong Kong Classic Mile. The favourite failed to sparkle this time, running home a
disappointing fourth behind the Tony Millard-trained bay. There was nothing sub-par about Singapore Sling. Millard’s latest stable star looked a picture pre-race and delivered a performance to match.
“When I asked for the supreme effort, he responded nicely and he held that all the way to the line, so it was a very strong win,” Schofield added. “I just put my hands on the horse’s neck and let him tell me
where he wanted to be and that was nice and close in the box seat. I was worried that perhaps I was too close because it was a strong pace throughout. With Grand Chancellor [Savabeel] on my outside, I was able to edge out into the clear nice and early, and I sat as long as I could.” Singapore Sling won in a time of 1m 46.99s, the second-fastest Classic Cup at the current distance, just one hundredth of a second off Rapper Dragon’s 2017 time. This was the second success in the race for Millard. The handler took the prize in 2011 with Ambitious Dragon, a horse that went on to win the Derby and subsequently proved his merit as one of Hong Kong’s all-time greats. “Ambitious Dragon was a true Champion and this horse is still building up to be talked of in the same voice. He has to still do it, though,” Millard said. “It was a hardfought win and I’m certainly happy that he finished very strongly.” Schofield has no concerns about another step up in distance in the final leg of the three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series on 18th March. “The 2000 metres in the Derby will be no problem,” Schofield said. “He’s getting better all the time, he’s relaxing and, mentally and physically, I’m very happy with him.” Bred by Drakenstein Stud, Singapore Sling is from the first local crop of resident stallion Philanthropist. He is out of the triple winner Sing Dixie Sing, a Western Winter half-sister to the dual Gr.1 winner Grand Emporium (National Assembly), who went on to further Graded success in Dubai, where he was voted the International Horse of the Year. Incidentally, National Assembly also sired the close relative Ndabeni, winner of the Gr.1 Golden
Horseshoe and a half-brother to Singapore Sling’s grandam, the Champion female sprinter Whistling Dixie. To date, Singapore Sling has earned more than HK$9m in his four starts in Hong Kong, not a bad return for his new connections considering his original purchase price of R225,000. He was purchased by David Shawe at the 2015 CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale and was trained by Geoff Woodruff until exported.
Credit: Racing South Africa