News

Black Mamba shows plenty of bite at debut

13th Jul 2014

Singapore Turf Club - Michael Lee - Sunday, 13 July 2014

Kranji racegoers were given a gentle reminder of trainer Theo Kieser’s reputation as a dab hand with two-year-olds when Black Mamba worked home the best to claim the juvenile race over 1200m, the $75,000 Hello United Kingdom Stakes (1200m), on Sunday.

The South African has over the years stamped himself as an astute conditioner of “babies” with names like Kaiser, Goal Keeper, Yin Jie, Griffin, and Rappor rattling off a long list of such juvenile graduates.

But the nursery had been a little less busy this season until Black Mamba, a strapping son of Written Tycoon, was the first to bring Kieser’s "King of the Kids" mantle out of the closet this term – at least for one race.

Black Mamba (Danny Beasley), who is named after a venomous snake, was a clear last at barrier rise, but the debutant was soon able to slither his way back into the race as he tacked onto the field down the backstraight. Upfront another first-starter Fatkid Wonderer (Mark Ewe) proved to be a major thorn in the side of favourite Star Jet (Manoel Nunes), by outspeeding the debut winner to the lead, and never giving him a chance to take a breather by keeping him one-off the rails punching the breeze.

It was no surprise that Star Jet was left a sitting duck upon straightening, struggling to muster a kick the way he did at his first win. The swoopers did not take long to descend on the scene, with Alpha Magic (Alan Munro) and Mighty Glory (Barend Vorster) leading the charge, but they were not cutting much ice either.

Super Eight (Corey Brown) and Rock Esprit (Nooresh Juglall) chimed in from behind but it soon became evident where the main danger would hail from when Black Mamba rocked up with a steaming run on the outside, albeit still a touch green in his action.

Well ridden and controlled by Beasley, Black Mamba ($49) finished over the top of his rivals to score by 1 ½ lengths from Super Eight with Rock Esprit third, another three parts of a length away. Raced by Madam Koh Siok Choo, Black Mamba clocked the 1200m on the Short Course in1min 10.81secs.

Delighted, though slightly surprised by the first-up win, Kieser was, however, not casting in stone the Group 3 Juvenile Championship (1200m) on July 27, as a natural next target, though he would not mind having more than one option.

“It might be an idea, but I’ll have to see how he pulls up and discuss with Danny as well,” said Kieser.

“I already have Racer King in mind for that race. He’s run two races already for two thirds, but we’ll see.

“On his work, I thought he would finish in the money today, but I wasn’t confident he would win.

“He’s a horse I bought myself for A$45,000 at the Melbourne Premier yearling sales last year. He is bred to stay and definitely has the conformation of a stayer.”

Barring an Act of God, nothing could prise Beasley away from top juvenile Affleck in the Juvenile Championship, but Black Mamba has certainly not left the Australian rider unmoved.

“He's a bit of a lad as he can be quite a handful, but I think he’s got a nice future this horse. As you could see, he’s still very green and that was why I just rode him hands and heels in the last bit just to show him where to go,” said Beasley.

“It’s a good thing they ran quickly early. That suited him because if they had walked, he would have been outsprinted.”