Stirring win right On the Line

[Wandering Eyes]

On Line (NZ) (O’Reilly) enhanced his prospects of gaining a start in the S$1million Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) when he scored over 1600m at Kranji on Saturday.

Around 20th in the order of entry on 70 points for the Cup before the running of the $70,000 Class 3 race over the Polytrack mile, On Line was in need of a win to still be in with a chance of gaining a chance.

The O’Reilly six-year-old pulled it off but only by the skin of his teeth. Last for most of the way, he only got a wriggle-on from the circle and went to the line in a three-way tussle that saw him get the decision by a head.

While On Line may still be one of the fringe runners for the blue riband on November 14 in spite of the ratings hike following Saturday’s success, trainer Michael Clements was in two minds about his participation regardless of which way the handicapper’s knife slices and dices.

“On that win, he should be thereabouts, around the cut-off mark, or just below. He may get in if a horse or two drop out,” said Clements.

“If he runs on like this, it would be tempting to run him (in the Singapore Gold Cup) with a low weight (50kgs), but the thing is we tried him in Group company before and he hasn’t quite measured up.

“Initially, we thought he could be a Group horse over a distance, but he seems to be more in his element in this class (3). So, at this stage, I’d say he’s an unlikely starter, but you never know.

“Today was the right trip for him, he’s been looking for such a race for a while. We had him in a couple of sprints before that, he ran in a 1400m race at his last start and was running on.

“I wasn’t sure about the inside, but from where I watched the race, the angle usually favours the outside horses.”

Whether On Line takes a stab at the S$1 million prizemoney up for grabs in the Singapore Gold Cup or not, he has already proven to be a handy money spinner for Thai champion owner Falcon Racing No 7 Stable with more than S$300,000 earned from his record of five wins and nine placings from 26 starts.

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