First, it was Special Ops. Now, it is Real Efecto's turn to gain a consolation victory, after failing to secure a berth in the capacity-field Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup two Sundays ago.
The Jason Ong-trained Special Ops was the first emergency acceptor and he won the Class 3 race over 1,400m on the same day. The David Kok-trained Real Efecto took last Saturday's $70,000 Kranji Stakes C race over the Gold Cup distance of 2,000m with a clever ride by Gold Cup-winning jockey Danny Beasley.
The plan was to lead from his wide berth, Gate 8 of 10 runners.
But, sensing that the pace was a bit lacking, Beasley made a forward move that some might have thought he was burning unnecessary petrol.
But it was a brilliant calculation. He drove Real Efecto from his midfield spot to track Senor Don, albeit a little wide.
It was a slugfest with the stubborn Ricardo Le Grange-trained two-time winner. But, in the end, Beasley managed to extract every ounce from Real Efecto for a 3/4-length victory in 2min 05.02sec. It was the winner's fourth success from 13 starts and his first over 2,000m.
Displaced as the favourite at the last minute, he paid $15 for a win. Wind Trail, the new $11 favourite, finished third.
Kok, who also owns shares in Real Efecto, praised Beasley for his preemptive strike.
"The plan was actually to go to the front, but he jumped slowly," said the Singaporean handler.
"When Danny saw that the pace was slow in the backstraight, he decided to make an early move. Credit to the jockey, he won the race for us."
Kok wished he could have pushed the envelope further, but said the fixtures would not give him that opportunity.
"We don't have 2,200m races any more. I'm sure he would be even better over more ground," he said. "He stays all day. He's actually a horse I bought from the Inglis Yearlings sale with the Gold Cup in mind.
"I've always wanted to buy a Real Impact, as he's by Deep Impact, and I wanted a horse who could stay. I paid $47,500 for him. I've won the Singapore Derby and Patron's Bowl with Well Done (both in 2016) and the Kranji Mile (2013) with Cash Luck, but not the Gold Cup. It's a race I really want to win."
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