With the Formula One in town, sustained speed was the order of the day in Singapore, with More Than Ready’s rising star, Better Be The One leading throughout to win the Group 3 Garden City Trophy.
Better Be The One ($485,000 2008 Easter, 5g More Than Ready-Common Smytzer) faced a top class field in today’s 1200m sprint at Kranji, but jockey Vlad Duric had no hesitation to jump the Michael Freedman trained galloper straight to the front before holding off the challenges of recent Group winners Argy Bargy and Ato to record his first feature race win in Singapore.
“Surprisingly it’s his first Group win anywhere,” said trainer Michael Freedman. “He was successful in Listed company before he came here.
“It is a big thrill to win a race like this especially for someone like John (O’Neill) who sent him up here after he reached his mark back in Melbourne”.
Sold to Blue Sky Thoroughbreds from the draft of Makybe at the 2008 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Better Be The One won over A$250,000 with Lee Freedman in Australia under the name of Common Interest, before being sent into Michael’s care in Singapore.
“Julian Blaxland and I were keen to send him over here to Michael,” said part-owner John O’Neill.
“He was a nice horse back home and we are on the lookout to bring more like him up here.
“He’ll get a month off now then we’ll get him ready for another trip to Dubai next March”.
Considered by many as the second best sprinter in Singapore, the Easter graduate has won over S$550,000 at Kranji from just ten starts, with connections very much looking forward to returning to Dubai, the scene of his very close third behind J J The Jet Plane in the Group 2 Al Quoz Sprint (1000m) earlier this year.
