Saturday, 15 September 2018: Exciting prospect Bold Thruster scored yet another resounding win on Friday night, giving his rivals absolutely no chance of a look-in in the $80,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1200m.

Bold Thruster winning the CLASS 3

The bold black three-year-old son of Turffontein was posting his third win in a row (from four starts), and more tellingly, has recorded all three in identically authoritative fashion – roll forward and gap them.



Jockey Barend Vorster summed it up best when he said Bold Thruster was the complete package after dismounting.



“He’s got everything: Speed, acceleration and stamina!” said the South African jockey who was also the privileged partner at his previous two wins.

Virtually from the moment he sprang out of the gates until the whole length of the Kranji homestretch, that high cruising speed and that relentless acceleration to the wire simply broke his rivals’ hearts for the third time running.



The wide alley was also no speed bump for the odds-on $6 hotpot. Once sent on his way, he went straight as a die to the lead, with the others just left with a full view of his backside from that point onwards.



Big outsider The Capital (A’Isisuhairi Kasim, $372) was the one who won the battle for the minors, more than three lengths in arrears. Yulong Fast Steed (Daniel Moor) was next in another half-a-length away. The winning time was 1min 9.65secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.



Trainer Shane Baertschiger originally wanted to resist the temptation of testing the Tivic Stable-owned gelding in a feature race, but may have a throw at the stumps after all.



“The Garden City Trophy was a race I thought about, but I then decided he might just have another run in something easier and then I would send him to the paddocks,” said the Australian handler.



“But when I looked at the programme just now, there was nothing for him for five weeks. Nothing’s been confirmed yet, but the Garden City Trophy may be back on the plate.



“I will have to discuss with the owners (Thomas Loke and racing manager Jason Goh) first, though.”



The Group 3 Garden City Trophy (1200m) is a condition weights race which will be run on October 21.



Whether Bold Thruster  heads in that direction or not, one target Baertschiger has definitely locked away is next year’s Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge. The Australian handler said that on paper, his precious charge was almost a certainty on Friday, but that first nocturnal experience always casts some doubts.



“It was his first time under the lights, but he handled it very well,” said Baertschiger.



“He looked a picture in the parade ring. Barend Vorster also rode him very well – the horse was doing 24.08 seconds, he was flying and there was still plenty of petrol left.



“He’s only three and the manner in which he’s done it shows he’s pretty special. At the stables, we look after him a little bit more and give him extra special care.



“He’ll definitely make it to Class 1 one day and next year, he’ll be going for the 3YO series.”



When asked if he would rank Bold Thruster as one of the best he has ridden, Vorster, who has sat atop past Kranji champions such as Rocket Man, Ato and Why Be, was a little coy, just preferring to say that he certainly had the makings of a future star, but there was still a fair bit to go before he earned such a tag.



“Tonight, he jumped well and within one stride, he was in front. I thought he was going too quick at the 500m, but I just let him slide along,” said the lightweight jockey, who got the gig at the last three starts mainly thanks to the low handicaps.



“You can’t break his stride, you just have to let him do his own things. Once he quickened, he put the race away.



“I’d like to see what he’ll do when another horse gets up to him one day, whether he’ll go with him. He has learned so much from the last start and is a lot more mature now.”



With that latest win, Bold Thruster has now taken his stakes earnings close to the $140,000 mark for the Tivic Stable.