Westbury Stud graduate Inferno put on what looked to be an exhibition gallop when running away with the S$400,000 Lion City Cup (1200m) on at Kranji Sunday.
In his typically economical debriefing style after the country’s premier sprint, trainer Cliff Brown said the Holy Roman Emperor four-year-old was “something else”.
A few minutes later, after emerging from the jockeys’ room, Vlad Duric said he had never ridden any horse quite like Inferno in Singapore.
Brown had expressed some misgivings about the drop from the mile at his last victory in the Singapore Guineas (1600m) on September 26 to 1200m, taking on the cream of the sprinting crop at Kranji, mostly seasoned competitors at level weights, for the first time.
Eased down towards the line, Inferno had two and a quarter lengths to spare from the New Zealand-bred Mr Malek with a slick winning time of 1min 8.28secs for the 1200m.
Brown showed his huge relief.
“He’s quite something else, isn’t he?” said Brown in sheer admiration of the effortless manner Inferno put some of the best sprinters at Kranji to the sword.
“To come back from the mile to 1200m, it’s very hard to do, but he did a great job. This horse is just getting better and better.
“I’m very pleased. I’ll wait a while and decide what next, but to be honest, I’m not sure what is next for him.
“There isn’t much left for him. We may wait for a Class 1 race or we may even give him a break, we’ll see how he pulls up.”
With that facile win in the Lion City Cup, Inferno has now amassed around S$1.1 million in stakes money for the Barree Stable.
