SINGAPORE - Infantry marched ahead to claim this year's Singapore Derby on Sunday (July 9).
Starting off from barrier six, the New Zealand-bred bay gelding ridden by Manoel Nunes was fifth on the fence before storming away from the pack in the final 400m to win the race.
Infantry finished a full-length clear from Lim's Samurai (William Pike) with Nova Strike (Derreck David) a neck behind in third.
Pre-race favourite Alibi (Michael Boss), who was looking to create history by completing a clean sweep of the Singapore Four-Year-Old challenge, fell short and placed fourth.
The winning time was 2min 2 sec on the short course at the Singapore Turf Club.
Winning trainer Alwin Tan described the victory in the $1.15 million Group 1 race over 2,000m as the biggest in his career.
This is Tan's first derby title after coming close in the 2015 edition when War Affair placed second.
A headliner on the local racing calendar, it is the Republic's oldest horse race and marks the final leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old challenge.
Since the discontinuation of top-tier international group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup last year, the Singapore Derby offers the second largest prize money purse after the $1.35 million Singapore Gold Cup in November.
