Unlucky Presvis denied by Gloria

Luca Cumani endured yet more near-miss heartbreak as Presvis finished a luckless second behind Gloria De Campeao in the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji.

The Newmarket-based handler has had wretched luck over the past few seasons in some of the world's top events, with Purple Moon narrowly going down in the 2007 Melbourne Cup, the Hong Kong Vase and the Sheema Classic.

To compound Cumani's misfortune, Bauer also lost out by a nose in last year's renewal of the Melbourne Cup.

Presvis was sent off favourite to supplement his success in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong and was dropped out last by Ryan Moore, having been drawn 12 of the 12 runners.

Once the gap came in the straight, Presvis engaged overdrive.

Although Moore's mount made rapid ground inside the final furlong, Pascal Bary's Dubai World Cup runner-up Gloria De Campeao was a head in front at the line under TJ Pereira.

Mike de Kock's Bankable, a former Cumani inmate, finished third, while Godolphin's Balius was disappointing.

Bary said: 'He ran a good race, and we were aggressive at the start, which was a good way to do things.

'The other one (Presvis) came back very well, but it was too late.

'He's a very good horse on dirt but he's run well on the grass in Brazil, so that was not a problem.

'I was confident he'd run well, but not that he'd win.

'We'll go back to France and we'll see what happens later.

'Today he has done the job - that was the way to ride him.'

The British failed to make much impact in the preceding KrisFlyer International Sprint as Sacred Kingdom edged out the previously-unbeaten Rocket Man in a thrilling finish.

The latter was sent off favourite to secure his eighth win from as many starts.

But after looking likely to complete the feat when striking on early in the straight, Ricky Yiu's Sacred Kingdom wore him down to score by a neck under Brett Prebble.

Godolphin's Diabolical ran a fine race to pick up minor honours in third.

The two other British representatives, Prime Defender and Madame Trop Vite, were disappointing, with the former finishing last of the 13 runners.

Prebble said: 'He didn't relax last time he ran, but he did this time.
'He's a world champion sprinter and he's got back up on that pedestal.

'When he got to the front, he just waited.

'He's back to his best and we'll have a lot of fun with him.

'It's a pretty special win.'

Robbie Fradd, rider of runner-up Rocket Man, said: 'You can't say he was disappointing, he was a three-year-old taking on the older horses and the winner is a world-class sprinter.

'When he's a four-year-old, this horse will be a bit more mature and we'll take them on again.'

Frankie Dettori, rider of Godolphin's Diabolical, said: 'It was a super run. He travelled OK, he quickened up well but the first two are very good.

'Third is a good spot for us and we are very pleased.'

Disappointment of the race was Australian superstar Takeover Target, who failed to pick up when asked by Jay Ford.

Ford said: 'We had a nice run, but he never really travelled that well underneath me.

'I was pushing him along passing 700 (metres) and even when I pulled him out, he only really raced one-paced to the line.

'It was probably a sub-par performance so it will be interesting to see how he cools off and if anything comes of it, because we know he is better than that.'