Fortuna’s big chance to roll back the years
Elliot Ness can give formidable force in the 2021-22 era one of their last Kranji victories
The Fortuna NZ Racing Stable has a good chance of bringing back its glory days at Kranji for one last time with Elliot Ness on Sept 21.
The New Zealand outfit run by John Galvin was a dominant force at Kranji in 2021-22, what with the likes of King Arthur and Entertainer, among many others sporting the tangerine colours.
Alongside Te Akau Stable, they were the driving force behind Mark Walker’s premiership-winning seasons, and Donna Logan’s best season (59 wins) in 2022 when runner-up to Tim Fitzsimmons.
Things have quietened down since the news broke in June 2023 that Singapore racing was winding up on Oct 5, 2024.
Only seven winners have padded up the haul since, with the last being Elliot Ness himself on Jan 27.
Two omens may suggest a return to the winner’s circle this weekend – and it is not so much the 1,100m pet trip he won all his four races over, and even holds its course record of 1min 3.65sec till today.
On Sept 14, the Fortuna colours shone at Melbourne racing’s headquarters in Flemington through Bellatrix Star for Walker in a Listed three-year-old fillies race (1,100m).
Ever since the four-time Singapore champion trainer left Kranji in 2021, he has cut a swathe back in his native New Zealand, and across the Tasman Sea in Australia, headlined by Te Akau’s Imperatriz.
Fortuna NZ has also given Team Walker further impetus in Melbourne with wins from chaser Leaderboard, and a placing from Our Paramour, but Bellatrix Star’s win at the weekend stands out.
The other strong hint why Galvin may well celebrate another offshore win in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race (1,100m) at Kranji is Elliot Ness’ solid first-up run.
The seven-year-old son of Written Tycoon, who raced as Prohibition and whom Galvin cleverly renamed after American gangster Al Capone’s famous nemesis, returned from surgery with a closing fourth in a similar event on Aug 18.
“He had a chip removed from his knee. We’ve given him plenty of time to get back,” said Logan.
“His first-up run was very encouraging. Manoel (Nunes) wanted to ride him again, he’s a professional and knows how to make the race suit the horse.
“We had targeted another race on Sept 28, but something could come out of the woodwork and the race is scrapped. We picked this one instead.
“He’s drawn wide (eight) again, but we can only have an idea how he’ll go when the gates open.”
On his inside in seven, the Jason Ong-trained July will be a threat. He can roll forward, but he is more effective from off the pace.
Stablemate Surrey Hills cannot be ignored either. He is on the quick back-up after his fading seventh at his last start on Sept 14, but he had no peace in the lead from Cheerful Baby for most of the way.
English-bred Lucky Baby does not win out of turn, but if the Jerome Tan-trained five-year-old brings his A game, he can get in the mix, especially with Bernardo Pinheiro in such great form he could win on a broomstick.
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