Singapore Champion Sparkles at Moonee Valley

Having swept all before him in Singapore, top-class Karaka graduate The Inferno (Holy Roman Emperor) announced his arrival in the Australian big time with a blistering win in Saturday’s A$300,000 Group Two Mitty’s McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley. 

Bought for $140,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2018, Inferno is now the winner of nine of his 11 starts and more than A$1.1 million in stakes – almost eight times his purchase price.

The Inferno was bought by trainer Cliff Brown, who was then based in Singapore. His Karaka recruit became a Kranji sensation, winning eight of his nine starts including the S$250,000 Golden Horseshoe (1200m), the S$175,000 Saas Fee Stakes (1200m), the S$250,000 Singapore Classic (1400m), the S$400,000 Singapore Guineas (1600m) and the S$400,000 Lion City Cup (1200m).

Brown has since returned to his Australian homeland, and The Inferno had excuses when sixth in last month’s Listed Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) on his Melbourne debut. Saturday’s McEwen Stakes was a very different story.

Jockey Damian Lane dropped back in the early stages of the 1000m dash and had only two horses behind him coming down the side of the track.

But The Inferno came widest of all around the home turn and unleashed a booming finish, dashing to the front and going clear to win by a length from the Group One-winning speedsters Portland Sky (Deep Field) and September Run (Exceed and Excel).

“He was super,” Lane said. “Things went a bit upside down for us in his first-up run, but Cliff gave him a trial between races – he went super there, and I was confident he’d run well today. I wasn’t sure how it might play out for him, but he really showed his class.

“He’s a talented horse, and quite often those horses pick things up naturally. That was the same thing here today. He just took to the track, no worries. When I let him down, he let down really quickly.”

Brown suggested The Inferno could even be a contender for the world’s richest sprint race, the A$15 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick on October 16.

“I think he’s the best horse I’ve ever had,” Brown said. “To come back to Australia and have him do this today is great.

“I think he could be an Everest horse. The beauty of him is he likes firm, he likes soft. I think he could be that sort of smoky for that race.”