Kungfu Hero (Press Statement), a son of Novara Park stallion Press Statement, made a bold statement on Saturday with a smashing five-and-a-quarter length debut win in Singapore.
For good measure, the Jerome Tan-trained three-year-old also set a new Class record of 1 min 9.1secs over the six furlongs on the Long Course in the Restricted Maiden race, shaving 0.15secs off Time Odyssey’s old record set in 2015.
Jockey Bernardo Pinheiro had a good feel of him through trackwork and two good barrier trial runs, including the last one on 5 October when he got up by three-and-a-quarter length from Supreme Liner, so the Brazilian hoop was clearly aware of the bonnet he had underneath him, albeit he was not without chinks in his armour.
“I’ve been riding him for a long time. He’s very powerful but it’s very hard to make him sit down and relax, especially in the gates,” said Pinheiro, who pulled off a double after taking out his first Singapore feature race in the S$300,000 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) aboard Hongkong Great.
“I was confident with him, but my real worry is how to let him relax before the race.”
Pinheiro, who finished fourth on the jockeys’ log on 30 wins after his current six-month stint ends at Kranji on Saturday, will fly back to Dubai on Sunday night to ride in UAE for the new 2023/2024 season kicking off in late October.
He was glad Kungfu Hero returned a winner despite getting all wound up before the race.
“He (Kungfu Hero) was sweating, but luckily, (head starter) John (Pepe) kept him leashed (behind the gates),” he said.
“He walked in quick, jumped good and everything went well. He came easily into the straight and I just gave him a blow in the last 200m because he’s a baby and he had to learn.
“I was also a bit worried about the wide gate because both times he trialled, he jumped from the inside (barriers three and one), but I never doubted that he’s good.
“I want to thank John because he was so patient with this horse in the trials and also to Jerome for letting me ride him.”
Tan shared it took some time to put things together for the son of Press Statement.
“I was worried about the wide gate and the fact it was his first time on the turf, but he’s a very good horse,” said the Singaporean conditioner.
“He came in June, but he’s a crazy horse, which was why it took him so long to be ready for his first race.
“Hopefully he can go over more ground, but he’s all speed now, so I think he can go up to 1600m at most.”
With his first win, Kungfu Hero has earned his first pay cheque of over S$40,000 in prizemoney for the Happy Baby Stable.
Press Statement is standing his first season in New Zealand at Novara Park for a fee of $6000 + GST.
