ENTERTAINER breaks through for his first win in Singapore

ENTERTAINER lived up to his name and kept both the punters who sent him out a very hot favourite and his small army of owners very happy when taking out the Open Maiden 1100m on the Poly at Kranji racetrack in Singapore today. A 4yo Gelding by Zoustar, who sports the stable name “Joker”, he had drawn barrier 1 over the 1100m trip, was having his 5th Singapore start and after being beaten just under 4 lengths in Class 4 company company at his last outing, punters had clearly decided he was the one to beat in this Open Maiden event, no doubt their thinking backed up by the No 1 barrier draw and the fact that the up and coming star in Singapore riding ranks, Ruan Maia, was slipping into the stirrups.

Maia rode him perfectly, away well, holding the rail, led throughout, well clear on turning, a couple of reminders behind the saddle over the last 200 metres and had the last laugh over the final stages, going to the line clear by 1.75 lengths.

Click HERE to see the race replay

Entertainer – 1st win – Singapore – 9th January 2021

Fortuna NZ Stable Director, John Galvin, on holiday with his family in Queenstown, New Zealand, was over the moon with the result; “Entertainer has always shown ability, however was inclined to over race in his first few Singapore starts and then we had the frustration of him being balloted our on several occasions, so to score this win today is very satisfying, Full kudos to trainer Mark Walker and his team, who have worked hard teaching this horse to relax And what a great ride from Ruan Maia, who is proving to be a class act in Singapore. A big shout out also to his ownership group, consisting of 53 individuals from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, who have been very patient and understanding, firstly as we have needed to teach this horse to relax and secondly, the balloting issues due to the Covid-19 issues affecting Singapore racing”

Entertainer was acquired by Mark Walker on behalf of Fortuna in December 2019, for A$20,000 from an Inglis online digital sale. He had been acquired originally as a yearling for A$150,000 by a high profile ownership group, who had stallion making prospects in mind. Trained by Chris Waller, he showed some ability, but having needed to geld him and then after four non winning races in Australia, they offered him for sale on the Inglis platform.