Dragon Commander made a successful debut for his new stable in Singapore on the weekend and the win was also appreciated by Esker Lodge back in New Zealand.
Dragon Commander (My Halo – Step We Gaily by Danske) was ridden by champion jockey Joao Moreira to a fighting half-length victory in a 1200m maiden at Kranji. It was his first start for trainer Tan Hor Khoon after transferring from Mohd Yusof.
“He’s a newcomer to the stable and we are still learning about him,” said Desmond Gan, assistant trainer to Tan. “We put him in a trial two weeks ago and he did quite nicely. He has no health issues, so he came to us at the right time.”
Connections will try Dragon Commander over a longer distance further into his latest campaign. “He’s still young and green and not fully developed as yet,” said Moreira. “He’s a horse that has quite a bit of fight and hopefully he’s got a good future here.”
Dragon Commander (NZ) was a $40,000 purchase out of the Esker Lodge draft at the 2011 NZB Ready to Run Sale. His dam Step We Gaily won at Riccarton and she is from the family of G1 Captain Cook Stakes winner Hurrah.
Esker Lodge owners Tom and Shelly Murtagh sold the top-priced lot at the 2011 NZ Ready to Run Sale when their Fastnet Rock – Shimo Star filly made $450,000 to the bid of prominent owner Phil Sly.
The Cambridge couple will offer another quality draft for this year’s NZ 2YO Sale and among them is the brother to Dragon Commander catalogued as Lot 352.
Another Singapore connection for Esker Lodge is Super Easy. The Darci Brahma colt won 12 in a row before losing his unbeaten record when runner-up to Better Life in the G1 Kranji Mile earlier this month.
Super Easy was a $140,000 buy from Esker Lodge at the NZ Bloodstock’s 2010 Karaka yearling sale. He has now earned S$1.46 million for trainer Michael Freedman and the Joy N Happiness Stable.
The Esker Lodge 2YO draft also includes a Darci Brahma gelding from LR Dunedin Guineas runner-up Mystify (Mont jeu).
– Karl Patterson
DRAGON COMMANDER
Esker Lodge graduate wins at Kranji