Wide draw mars gutsy horse’s dream run

Beating colic to win five races and make the cut for the $1.38 million Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Oct 5 is already the stuff dreams are made of.

But, after rising star and first-time 2,000m tester Big Union drew the second-worst alley in 15 on Oct 2, a dejected trainer Jerome Tan said that to win from such a awkward gate would take even bigger intestinal fortitude.

“Barrier 15 makes it a lot tougher. Normally he’s an on-pace horse, but whether you’re on or off the pace, you’re pretty much a gone case from such a wide barrier,” said the Singaporean handler.

Tan had already been deflated when the weights came out two days earlier. The 50kg for Big Union was a given, going with the yawning 40-point gap between him and topweight Lim’s Kosciuszko.

On the handicapping terms adjusted to the special Gold Cup scale of four points to the kilo instead of two, he should receive 10kg from the toppie.

But when Lim’s Kosciuszko was given – some say gifted – 58kg, it spelt bad news for a horse like Big Union.

With the denoted minimum weight capped at 50kg at the other end of the scale, the Zoustar four-year-old was already 2kg worse off – he should have carried 48kg on merit.

As if that was not bad enough, Bernardo Pinheiro, his regular partner, would have to cut a few limbs to make 50kg. The Brazilian can only ride him at 52kg.

“Pinheiro will ride him 2kg over. There’ll be only 6kg difference between him and Lim’s Kosciuszko in the end,” said Tan.

Tan could have booked a jockey who can ride at 50kg, or even flown one in to give his horse every chance, but he is not breaking loyalty.

“No need to fly in a jockey. Pinheiro knows him very well,” said Tan. “He rides him every day, and rode him to all his five wins.

“A 2kg difference won’t really matter. The horse is in top form.”

In the overall scheme of things, all the fuss over who will ride – Pinheiro even had to do some fancy footwork to get off Ricardo Le Grange’s Bestseller and Hole In One – pales in significance to Big Union’s very presence in a race that will go down in Singapore history as its very last race after 182 years of existence.

Just less than a year ago, Big Union was not even a starter in any race, let alone a Singapore Gold Cup.

“He survived a colic when he came to me last year. It’s a fairytale for him to be my Gold Cup horse,” said Tan.

“But it was only after he ran second at his last start in a 1,400m race (Sept 21) that I seriously started to consider him as a Gold Cup horse.

“We decided why not have a shot in the last running of such a big race, when it will also be the last race of his career in Singapore.”

The first test over 2,000m was the only unknown quantity to the daring project. Both the sire Zoustar and the dam, Commands mare Rule The River, were sprinters.

Tan is confident it is not always in the genes.

“I think he can get 2,000m, but how effective will he be is the big question mark,” said Tan.

“I gave him more stamina work just to prep him up for such a race.”

Tan will still get to test the Cat Racing Stable-owned galloper’s stamina beyond Oct 5.

Formerly based in Penang for 10 years, the 57-year-old Singaporean is moving to Kuala Lumpur to continue training.

Big Union will be among 10 of his current string to still come under his care in the Malaysian capital, but the rest will be new stock.

“It’ll take some time to get off the ground. I can only start next year,” said Tan.

“I’ll start with 20 horses, with half of them new horses, and the rest from my Kranji stables.”

One horse who will, however, not be joining Tan on his cross-border journey is one of his most promising upstarts, Big Return.

The bold-going galloper has gone to Hong Kong after he was bought over by Constance Cheng, of Toast Trusts Stable, who already races Silo, another former Singapore talent, in the former British colony.

Tan, whose one-from-one winner Kungfu Hero was also exported to Hong Kong and has already won a race, said he would not have done the Divine Prophet three-year-old justice if he had kept him.

“If we weren’t closing, I would’ve kept him for sure. We want the best for the horse and want to give him a chance to do the best of his ability,” he said.

“When Constance approached me after his last win, the deal was closed quickly. This horse is definitely good enough to compete in Hong Kong.”

manyan@sph.com.sg