The August wins tactical race

Class and experience saw Blake Shinn drive The August to a smart mini-upset win in the $70,000 Class 3 Division 1 race over 1,200m yesterday.

If not for the Australian jockey's ability to think out of the box, it is doubtful The August ($39) would have turned nemesis to raging $8 favourite Illustrious.

Tim Fitzsimmons' eye-catching grey speedster is big and strong, and usually hard to topple once he bowls along in front at those high cruising speeds.

Two new factors thrust The August into a scenario that can best be described as Plan B - and eventually led to the lowering of Illustrious' colours.

Illustrious missed the start while The August himself showed a gate speed he was not really known for.

As a result, Illustrious, who was ridden by Bernardo Pinheiro in place of Vlad Duric who could not make the weight, had to expend a bit more energy to boot up on the rails on his way towards his customary role.

After landing closer than envisaged to the horse he had to beat, without breaking a sweat, Shinn must have chuckled to himself. If he had been hoping for a chink in the armour, he had found it.

Before they spun the bend, The August had already collared Illustrious. The momentum had swung. The August, who at 493kg is dwarfed by Illustrious' 601kg bulk, had pinched a margin, which was never to be recovered.

Illustrious did not help his cause either with his jerky high head carriage when Pinheiro dug him up. To his credit, he fought back and did peg The August back a little, but they had been outwitted by a masterclass ride.

"To be honest, it wasn't the plan to keep Illustrious honest," said Shinn.

"The plan was to sit in third, fourth or fifth spot, but we took advantage of a good jump while Illustrious missed the jump.

"We made him work on the inside, and that has worked to our advantage from the get-go, and brought the other horse undone.

"My horse was never going to lose. It was a courageous but emphatic win."

If keeping the enemy closer was more of an ad lib move for Shinn, winning trainer Jerome Tan said it was an option they did explore in the parade ring.

"We anticipated Illustrious would go to the front. Blake suggested we stay as close as possible to give our horse a chance," said the Singaporean handler.

"Horses like (The August) race week in, week out. It's hard to have a good rider to give them an extra edge, Blake is definitely one such rider."

Tan supplied Shinn with his first winner on Singapore Derby last weekend, I Am Sacred, also raced by the same owner as The August's the Raffles Racing Stable.

"Jerome's supported me from Day 1. The Raffles Racing is a great supporter of Australasian racing, here and around the world," said Shinn.

"It's great to get another winner on the board for them."

Shinn is on a short four-week Singapore stopover on his way back to Australia following a successful three-year stint in Hong Kong.

The August rang up a hat-trick of wins as he had won earlier aboard debutant Fadaboy and Miracle.

The riding honours were, however, shared with Pinheiro, who scored aboard King Louis, Senor Don and Lion Spirit.

The Brazilian jockey, who is staying until the end of October, had the opportunity to claim the day's jockeys' challenge outright with pick-up ride Illustrious, but he spurned that chance.