The decline of racing in Singapore had a positive side for Roger James and Robert Wellwood Sweynesday (Up-to-date Zealand) (Sweynesse) is becoming an thrilling adolescent talent in her Cambridge stable.
With another promising performance in the Pathways – The Immigration Specialists (1200m) in Te Rapa on Saturday, the rather faint four-year-old took the third win of his five-start career.
Sweynesday rides in the colors of Eric Koh's Falcon Racing, known as one of the leading owners in Singapore. The son of Sweynesse was purchased for $80,000 by Koh, King Power and Bevan Smith Bloodstock at the 2022 Ready to Run Sale in Karaka. That group also paid $280,000 at the same sale to purchase December (NZ) (Shamexpress), whom James and Wellwood have trained to win three of his seven starts so far.
“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to train Sweynesday for Falcon Racing,” Wellwood said Saturday. “He and another horse we have in our stable were both bought to go to Singapore and we were the lucky beneficiaries of what happened to racing in Singapore. We are very grateful that they decided to leave these two horses in our stable.
“Both were purchased at Karaka by a very good friend of mine, Bevan Smith, who has an excellent track record of purchasing quality yearlings and two-year-olds that go on to appear on the racetrack. We are thrilled that he purchased this horse and ended up in our stable and we are excited to see what the future holds for him.”
As a three-year-old, Sweynesday made two starts last season, finishing second on debut at Taupo in March before leaving the top ranks with a astute win at Ellerslie in April. The gelding started again in October with a first defeat to eventual winner Wind Of Change at Ellerslie and finished second to the highly rated Twain on November 30th.
Sweynesday was given favorite for $2.60 at Te Rapa on Saturday and delivered a performance worthy of the award. In-form jockey Masa Hashizume gave him a patient ride in midfield as Rayet led the field until the home leg.
Master Brutus attacked and headed Rayet on the straight, but then Sweynesday loomed threateningly on his outside. Hashizume demanded maximum effort from his mount and Sweynesday put in a powerful performance in the final 50 meters to overtake champion Brutus to win by a narrow margin. Rayet held on to third place, five lengths behind the first pair. The 1200 m was run in 1:09.93.
Sweynesday's five-start career produced three wins, two seconds and $92,025 in stakes.
“He’s a quality horse,” Wellwood said. “He doesn't have too many weaknesses in his record, he's finished first or second in every start so far and it was another good performance today. He will learn more from this, he was still a bit green, but Masa rode him patiently and timed his run perfectly.
“We'll see how the horse does today, but everything he's shown us so far gives us a bit of confidence to think about raising the bar with him later in the campaign.” But the horse has to go “First priority, so we'll wait a few days and make sure it's okay before we make any further plans.”
