Bakeel Opens Account For Mansoor Down Under

Former Singapore three-time winner gets off to a smart win first-up in South Australia

- Sharon Zhang

The decision to venture into the Australian racing market has paid off for owner Mansoor Gandhi, after Bakeel pulled off a convincing win on debut in the A$55,000 (S$46,700) Happy 40th Birthday Chris Bieg Handicap (1,200m) at Adelaide's Morphettville racecourse on Feb 22.

After the closure of Singapore racing in October 2024, the Singaporean businessman and owner of the Al-Arabiya Stable chose to dip his toes into racing in Australia.

More specifically, he sent five of his horses - Bakeel, Makin, Ghalib, Ejaz and Asif - to South Australian-based trainers Aaron Bain and Ned Taylor on ex-Kranji jockey Barend Vorster's recommendation.

Ridden by five-time Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes, Bakeel was the first in the squad to make his debut in the Benchmark 68 Handicap race and gave Mansoor the chance to taste success in Australia with his first-up win.

Resuming after an eight-month break, the Sioux Nation four-year-old broke from barrier 12 but sat four wide. Nunes, who rode him at all his three wins in Singapore, did not panic even when Bakeel swung out the widest for the final assault.

Halfway up the straight, Bakeel easily sprinted past Dancing Storm (Lachlan Neindorf) before extending to a two-length win over the former.

The winning time was 1min 9.67sec for the 1,200m on the turf.