Jockey Lisa Allpress has no doubt that Coup Align would hold
his own in international competition in Singapore.
Allpress rode Coup Align to win the Eclipse Stakes at
Wingatui on Saturday.
She has also ridden the 4yr-old to win the Pegasus and
Stewards' Handicap at Riccarton and an open sprint at
Waikouaiti this season.
The win on Saturday strengthened the case for Coup Align to
be invited to the $S1 million KrisFlyer Sprint in Singapore
on May 16.
Trainer Michael Pitman is keen to make the trip.
Coup Align led on Saturday and ran the 1200m in 1.10.4
compared with the track record of 1.08.99 credited to A
Gordon For Me in December 1998.
"I will give him 10 days off and get him vaccinated for
Singapore. If he does not get an invitation, I won't be too
concerned. He will be a super horse at 5," Pitman said.
Allpress, as Lisa Mumby, rode Classic Marco to win the group
one Lion City Cup (1200m) at Kranji during a three-month
contract in Singapore in 2002.
"I think he [Coup Align] would be competitive there. He would
be competitive anywhere," she said.
Coup Align has won 10 of his 15 starts and the $28,125 stake
lifted his earnings to $210,625.
The win was an anniversary of sorts for Pitman and Ray
Coupland, who shares the ownership of Coup Align with his
partner Jill Walls.
The first horse raced by Coupland and trained by Pitman,
Pokare, dead-heated for first with Courier Flight in the 1985
James Hazlett Stakes, the registered name for the Eclipse
Stakes.
The same combination won the race with Coup Ray in 2005 when
it was held at Cromwell.
Coupland also won the race with Coup Entrepreneur from the
Peter and Dawn Williams stable in 2006.
