Hong Kong-based Olivier Doleuze had the last laugh in the HK$18.5 million Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji last night, adding the Lion City's biggest racing event to his resume with Chinchon at the expense of his regular ride, John Moore-trained Zaidan.
Doleuze had won the Classic Cup on Zaidan in February and finished fourth in both the Derby and QE II Cup for him, but Moore had booked New Zealand whiz kid James McDonald to ride Xtension in the Singapore race and stuck with the booking for Zaidan when the Singapore Turf Club allowed the trainer to switch runners at the last minute.
That allowed Doleuze to link with Chinchon in the race and add the Cup to Singapore's other major feature, the KrisFlyer Sprint, which he won on Iron Mask in 2001.
Doleuze gave Chinchon a brilliant ride from the rear to swamp Zaidan in the final 150m in the absence of winning trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, who had flown home to Europe only hours before due to the death of his father.
Moore said he was proud of the effort from Zaidan to finish second, especially in light of the rain that fell earlier in the meeting to reduce the already rain-softened track to a shifty, slippery surface that came against many of the runners and was a major concern to Moore pre-race.
'We know that this kind of surface was not a hundred per cent to his liking so that's a fantastic effort,' Moore said, while jockey McDonald was equally thrilled after giving the four-year-old a perfect ride.
'I think six months from now he is going to be mixing it with the best around,' McDonald said.
