News

Better Life Steals The Show In Singapore

7th Oct 2012

Exciting middle distance prospect Better Life stole the show in Singapore on Sunday, careering away to an emphatic victory in the S$500,000 Group 1 Kranji Mile against a high class field.

Better Life ($150,000 2010 Easter, 4m Smarty Jones-Quiet Life) was only fairly away from the 1600m start, but jockey Alan Munro didn’t panic as the four-year-old proceeded to travel well three wide during the day’s feature. When given her head at the top of Kranji’s 400m straight the Hideyuki Takaoka trained mare lengthened stride impressively to out gun Group 1 winners Super Easy and Ato to a comfortable one-and-a-half length win.

Replay of Better Life’s triumph can be viewed online HERE

The Kranji Mile marks the first leg of the Singapore Triple Crown Series, but Takaoka is hesitant to push onto the Raffles Cup (1800m) and Longines Singapore Gold Cup (2200m) with Better Life as the 2013 Singapore Derby in July next year remains the mare’s primary target.

“My long range plan with her is to try and win the Derby next year, so at this stage I’m only 50-50 about running her in the Gold Cup,” said Takaoka.

“She does everything naturally by herself and is a real pleasure to train. She’s done a great job to do what she has so far and I’m hoping she can keep it going,” Takaoka added.

Bred by Jananth Pty Ltd, Better Life was sold from Torryburn Stud’s draft at the 2010 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale to her current connections for $150,000.

The daughter of Smarty Jones was conceived in the northern hemisphere before her dam Quiet Life was transported to Australia carrying the future Group 1 winner in-utero.

Quiet Life has produced a filly and colt by Bernardini since Better Life and has a yearling filly on the ground by High Chaparral.

Today’s win took Better Life’s record to five wins and two seconds from just nine starts for earnings of S$519,395 for the Suzuka Racing Stable.

Sunday’s victory also continued the domination of Australian bred gallopers in the Kranji Mile, which has been captured by winners carrying the AUS brand seven out of the last nine years.

The final two legs of Singapore’s Triple Crown Series are the Group 1 Raffles Cup over 1800m on October 21 and Group 1 Longines Singapore Gold Cup over 2200m on November 11. No horse has ever won all three legs of the series and there is an S$300,000 bonus prize on offer to Better Life if she can be the first horse to do so.