STC.....
Ace Armada sees off Big Easy 8 Oct 2007
Michael Lee
The highly-talented Ace Armada’s return to the winner’s circle on Friday proved in no uncertain terms that the one-eyed horse had been written off a tad too hastily after his off-colour first-up run following his eye operation.
The Singapore Guineas winner, ridden again by the irrepressible Noel Callow, was never out of the top three and was given a nice cart along right behind Royal City (Cheng Han Kok) while Aries (Danny Beasley), who despite not being able to cross from his wide barrier, showed the way one-off the fence.
But 200m out, stablemate Big Easy with Kiwi rider Opie Bosson bidding for his second Kranji success, came with a full head of steam, while Huckleberry Finn (Saimee Jumaat) was putting in his two cents’ worth on the outside.
Quality and sheer grit rose through in the last 100m as the Laurie Laxon duo shot clear from the rest, locked into a stirring battle that eventually saw Ace Armada on the inside, touching off Big Easy by a head.
Though his two horses had run one, two, assistant trainer Theo Kieser, who was deputising for Laxon (in France for the Rugby World Cup), could not be blamed for feeling a little one-sided – just like Ace Armada.
“That was the perfect run for Ace Armada tonight. He had Big Easy on the side that he could see (his right hand side) and that helped him kicking along,” said Kieser.
“He needed that win to give him that little extra confidence that he had lacked at his first-up run.”
Callow, who as usual was the recipient of plaudits for another masterful ride, deflected the credit to someone who had no vested interest in the Lord Ballina four-year-old.
“I have to thank Patrick Shaw for that win,” said Callow.
“Pat suggested we take off the pacifier from the good eye and leave it open while keeping the pacifier on the eye that can’t see for trackwork.
“The idea is the pacifier gives a ‘webby’ image which the horse probably didn’t like at his last start.
"We took Pat’s advice on board and it worked.”
As for Big Easy, it was another huge run from the former Horse of the Year, who did nothing wrong except come up against a very able-bodied horse.
“Big Easy ran on good but the big weight got to him,” said Bosson.
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