BURRIDGE WON'T GIVE UP ON LAST GROUP 1 QUEST

Ghalib out to erase Makin’s Derby loss, even if daunting foe looms in Lim’s Kosciuszko

- Michael Lee

The racing line "you've got to be in it to win it" is starting to sound like a dreary cliche to Steven Burridge.

Makin's head-second in the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1,800m) on July 21 must have felt like the same old reel played back in autorewind twice.

It was the third successive time the big-hearted gelding raised the Australian trainer's hopes in a feature race, only to be denied late by the same horse on all three occasions, Lim's Saltoro.

After a closing second in the first leg, the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1,400m), Makin was deemed a big chance to turn the tables on his nemesis in the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1,600m). But, again, he failed to deal that killer blow, even conceding second place to Bestseller.

Hence, Makin drifted a little in the market for the grand final, the Singapore Derby, eventually starting as the joint third favourite ($26) with Lightning Strike.