Well, a “three peat” may have been beyond the New Zealand All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup, but for the Fortuna NZ Stable’s RED ROVER, the 5yo Gelding by O’Reilly out of Pin Up, it was no problem. Boasting a Singapore race record of four starts for a 3rd, a 2nd and two wins in Class 4 Grade prior to this race, RED ROVER was now up in grade to Class 3. This rise in class did not seem to ruffle punters however, who sent him out an odds on favourite. Drawn perfectly in barrier 1, jockey Benny Woodworth had his charge away well and raced one back on the rails. Easing him off the rails as they turned, “Bullet”, as RED ROVER is nicknamed, sped for home. Drifting out a few horse widths in the final stages, it looked at one stage as if the swoopers might get to him, but in the end he was too strong, going to the line with a margin of half a length over the 2nd horse.
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“Red Rover” – Wins 3rd time in a row – Singapore 03 November 2019
RED ROVER’s win capped off a remarkable weekend for the Fortuna Syndications team with MELODY BELLE winning the A$1m Group One Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day, attended by Fortuna boss, John Galvin accompanied by Jessica Galvin and 18 other syndicate Members. While the prizemoney for RED ROVER’s win (S$70,000) was far less than MELODY BELLE’s, John Galvin was no less ecstatic. “This was an outstanding result for RED ROVER and his connections,” said John, “not many win three in a row in Singapore and for this horse, who did not cost us a lot to purchase and has needed wind surgery, it was an outstanding result and full credit must go to our Singapore Trainer, Mark Walker, for firstly recommending this horse to us and secondly, making a great job of training him. And a big thanks to Benny Woodworth for riding him so well”
RED ROVER’s win was the 10th win in Singapore during 2019 for the Fortuna NZ Stable and took Te Akau Racing Stables Trainer, Mark Walker, to 71 wins for the season, 18 clear of his nearest rival in the Premiership race.
RED ROVER was acquired by Fortuna in 2018 for A$13,000 and now has prizemoney earnings of over S$100,000. He is owned by the Fortuna Red Rover Syndicate, an ownership Group of 42 individuals from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Several of the Ownership Group were on course to celebrate the victory.