A change of tactics, necessitated by heavy rain which fell earlier in the afternoon, saw Antipodean score a gutsy win in the RM300,000 NZB Ready To Run Sale Championship (1400m) at Sungai Besi on Sunday.
With that victory, the Derryn five-year-old remains unbeaten in four starts over the distance.
Antipodean has been unlucky when it comes to the big races this season. He was third to Lucky Magic in the Selangor Mile (1600m) after having to race wide throughout. And in the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m) last time out, his rider had to take action to avoid a fallen horse midway through the race, ending up fourth to the same horse.
Bernardo Pinheiro, who was on board the gelding on both occasions, decided to place him closer to the lead than they previously did. It paid dividends.
Arigato jumped best and immediately set the pace with Campionessa breathing down his neck when the field settled down. Singha Bay and Red Dragonfly kept each other company next with a gap of three lengths to Antipodean, racing ahead of a bunch of runners that included Duma, Rocky Bhai and Lucky Magic.
Arigato led into the straight from Campionessa, closely followed by Red Dragonfly and Singha Bay. Duma made a swift move round the bend to be just ahead of Antipodean, both switching out wide for their runs.
The leaders came under pressure at the 300m in the wet track and started to lose ground. Duma quickly raced past them, joined by Antipodean. The pair drew away to fight stride-for-stride to the post, with Antipodean winning by half a length. Rocky Bhai was 4-1/2 lengths astern in third place.
"When the rain came, I had to change tactics," said Pinheiro. "He (Antipodean) has been coming home strongly but not winning with 59kg on his back.
"On the wet track, if I had held him back early, he would be charging home as usual but might be too late. Hence, I decided to urged him on early and placed him in a more handy position.
"Once I placed him where I wanted to be, I got him to relax and waited for the straight to mount my challenge. This horse has got such a big heart."
Pinheiro, who was in the Middle East preparing the upcoming racing season which starts on Oct 25, flies back with three wins in the bag. He had earlier scored on War Code and Capetian.
Trainer Simon Dunderdale said Antipodean deserved the win after his recent performances in the big races.
"He was always drawn wide. Added to that he was either forced to race wide or interferred with in the running.
"Today, he had the luck in the running and showed everyone what he is really capable of."
Antipodean brought his local record to 12 wins in 20 starts with today's victory.
The big disappointment of the race was the run of Lucky Magic who raced wide early and plodded home sixth.
"He just couldn't handle the wet track," said trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong.
