After nine months of riding at his first overseas venture in Singapore, young Brazilian jockey Bruno Queiroz landed his first feature win aboard Ace Of Diamonds (NZ) (Swiss Ace) in the S$110,000 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on Saturday.
After being caught four wide with no cover Ace Of Diamonds had plenty of work to do but when Queiroz levelled up with the leading pack at the 350m, he looked to be doing it easy before hitting the afterburners at the 300m to put the race beyond doubt in a matter of strides.
Although he wandered about slightly in the last furlong, Ace Of Diamonds still had them all covered a long way from home, eventually winning by a length from the Donna Logan-trained Artillery, who ran on strongly in second.
The winning time was 1 min 9.57secs for the 1200m on the Short Course. Ace Of Diamonds’ fourth win from nine starts took his prizemoney to over S$200,000 for owner Leonardo Javier.
Queiroz was overjoyed with his first feature win in Singapore and reckoned Ace Of Diamonds will improve further in the Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) and the Singapore Guineas (1600m), which will be run on 27 April and 18 May respectively.
“I’m very happy as I didn’t have a big win in Singapore and today was perfect,” said the humble hoop, whose spoken English has improved from when he first stepped foot in Singapore.
“The horse was very well. A good job by Ricardo and the stable.
“He was alone at the last 200m and he watched (looked around), so I picked up the whip and he picked up and finished well.
“I think the longer distance (races) will be better for him.”
Meanwhile, Le Grange, who has been a big supporter of Queiroz’s, was confident before the race and praised Ace Of Diamonds for overcoming the wide gate and tough run to win.
“He’s (Ace Of Diamond) probably as good as I thought he is,” said Le Grange after the race.
“He did it a bit tough today. The draw was not ideal and racing wide on the ‘C’ Course made it really tough.
“I brought him back from the 1400m (in a Class 3 race at his last start), so I had to freshen him up and put some speed into his legs.
“So, I thought he would be a bit strong today, which he was. I think both the 3YO Classic and Guineas will be well within his reach.
“We will just keep training him now as per normal, keep him safe and out of harm’s way.
“To Sandy (Leonardo) and Karen (Javier), he’s a really smart horse and they deserved it. They are great patrons of the game. I’m just very happy.”
Other New Zealand bred winners in Singapore on Saturday included Sacred Buddy (NZ) (Sacred Falls) & Lim’s Smythe (NZ) (Saxon Warrior).
