Australia's champion sprinter Takeover Target has added the KrisFlyer Sprint in Singapore to a record that makes him one of the country's greatest ever international performers.
Takeover Target ($2.60 favourite) won the $A765,000 race by a half length from another Australian, Magnus, with the Hong Kong runner Sanziro a nose away in third place.
For trainer Joe Janiak, the win rated as highly as any of his horse's previous 16 victories, as much because Takeover Target is now in the veteran class.
"He's probably won better races, but that was right up there with any of them," Janiak said.
"He's not getting any younger, he's nearly nine.
"But he showed he's still got a few good runs in him."
Takeover Target has now won in four countries on three continents and set a track record of 1:08.8sec for the 1200m at Singapore's Kranji racecourse.
The gelding will now head for England for his third campaign having won there in 2006 and finishing fourth and second in 2007 in that country's two best sprint races.
"We'll be there doing our best - they'll know he's back."
Takeover Target missed the start slightly but quickly mustered speed to be second on the inside of the leader Why Be at the 500m.
Jockey Jay Ford then fed the big gelding some rein and he opened up a two length lead turning in.
At the 300m the Victorian sprinter Magnus loomed as the likely winner when jockey Damien Oliver brought him with his run.
But Takeover Target displayed all of his fighting qualities to hold off Magnus who in turn just lasted to keep second place ahead of Sanziro.
Ford said he had only slight concerns in the run home, but knew his horse would fight.
"That's the thing about him, he likes to win," Ford said.
"He was just a bit restless in the gates and he missed the start a fraction.
"But after that he got going pretty well and I thought he always had control of the race."
Australia's other runner Universal Ruler finished eighth after being wide throughout.
In the night's other feature race, the Group One $A2.297 million Singapore Airlines Cup (2000m), the South African galloper Jay Peg raced his way into calculations for Australia's greatest race, the Cox Plate.
Trainer Herman Brown said he Moonee Valley feature was now firmly on the horse's agenda following his 1-1/4 length victory over local galloper Recast.
The French runner Balius was third another three-quarters of a length away.
