Red-hot pair in Volcanic form

The wry smile on trainer Tim Fitzsimmons’ face at the conclusion of the $20,000 Open Maiden (1,000m) on July 13 said it all.

The Australian does prepare the winner, Volcanic, but while any win is always greeted as another notch on the belt, some come with mixed feelings at times.

In this case, Volcanic’s record in 13 starts had been so dismal that connections had all but written him off as a lost cause.

The Buffalo Stable’s patience had been wearing thin, the Singapore closure on Oct 5 making it even harder to find any good reason not to despatch him off to Malaysia.

They did, but as is often the case, horses seem to have a sixth sense when their one-way ticket is booked.

Volcanic’s will to win was suddenly awakened when he swung into the home straight under Ryan Curatolo with only Good Chilli (Bernardo Pinheiro) to mow down.

Normally, the Super One four-year-old would not have found a response when popped the question at that stage.

But he was up to the task this time, wearing Good Chilli down to stick his neck in front on the line.

Trapped wide from his outermost alley, favourite Lim’s Faber (Marc Lerner) boxed on gamely for third place another 1¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 00.37sec for the Polytrack 1,000m.

Such last-ditch wins have saved many a horse from their Malaysian-bound float rides, with Sky Rocket, Lim’s Casino and more recently, Very Surprise, good cases in point.

But Fitzsimmons said there would unfortunately be no grace for Volcanic. Some travelling companions will even join him on the float, including the other Buffalo, Thunderstorm, who ran sixth in the same race.

“Both Volcanic and Thunderstorm are going to Malaysia in 10 days’ time, along with Diaz,” said Fitzsimmons in reference to the one-time winner who ran third two races later.

“There’s not much I can say about Volcanic other than he won in a weak field today.

“They went quite quick, and he tracked the speed while Thunderstorm could not come across until the 600m.

“Ryan gave him a nice ride and he got there in time.”

The lack of belief in Volcanic was not just mirrored by his $77 odds, but also by Curatolo’s shocked expression upon dismounting.

“The horse jumped well and I kept him one length off the lead,” said the French jockey.

“I didn’t rush him. He was on the outside, but I had him travelling nicely on the bridle.

“When I angled him out, I only had Bernardo’s horse to beat. He fought back, but I knew I would beat him as he looked tired in the last bit.”

The Fitzsimmons-Curatolo show had just begun, as Kranji’s new dynamic duo later picked up two more wins from the much better-backed Maze ($15) and the impressive Ravalli ($7) for a treble.

Of the two, Maze was in a closer mould to Volcanic, needing a good dose of patience and perseverance to find the line, co-incidentally at his 14th start as well.

The only difference is that the Toronado four-year-old boasted a few more placings in recent outings, with the door knocked down in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 3 (1,100m).

The electric turn of foot and 2 3/4-length win from Takhi (Pinheiro) was a lot more emphatic, with Curatolo even resorting to a touch of humour to express his surprise.

“You know you’re having a great day when even Class 5 horses feel like Ferraris,” he said.

The one who may well have such horsepower under the bonnet is the third winner, Ravalli in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1,200m).

The Ilovethiscity three-year-old has now brought up two wins from three starts for the Jig Racing/Legacy Power Racing partnership – likely with more to come, both here and elsewhere.

“He’s an exciting horse with a lot of upsides. We’ll take him back to Australia with us,” said Fitzsimmons, who intends to relocate to his native Victoria after Singapore racing shuts down on Oct 5.

“He’s still learning. He could have been hard to beat in the 3YO series if we had him earlier.

“We knew there’d be speed to the race and we told Ryan to ride him like the best horse in the race.

“He rode him beautifully. It’s been a good day for the Fitzsimmons-Curatolo partnership.”

manyan@sph.com.sg