Top South African import Alexandra Palace had class written all over him and the promise of better things to come after he lived up to the big wraps with a sensational debut win on Sunday.

Lined up in the $100,000 Top Spin 2008 Stakes, an Open Benchmark 89 race over 1600m, the Jet Master four-year-old asserted his superiority inside the last 300m with a searching run that disposed of his seven rivals with relative ease.

The fact the new Patrick Shaw ward was only fourth in the market, sent out at a $27 quote, was an indication there were still some doubts how he would fare first-up, class notwithstanding. Especially as South African imports go through a long and tedious quarantine before they get to face the starter.

Kranji debutant Alexandra Palace is reunited with jockey Nooresh Juglall and the pair combine to winning
effect by taking out Race 8 on Sunday.

Even his Kranji barrier trials had not really sent temperatures soaring. A seventh, fourth and third (albeit only a quarter-length off the winner Yes Baba on July 17) are hardly material that build up confidence ahead of a racing debut.

But the former Mike de Kock-trained gelding put all these concerns to rest once he was sent into overdrive by jockey Nooresh Jugall halfway up the straight. After enjoying a cosy trail in third on the rails, Alexandra Palace took only a few shakes of the rein and cracks of the whip to muster that turn of foot that had seen him snare a Listed race in South Africa and the Gulf News Classified (1600m) in Dubai in January.

To his credit, race-leader Rafaga (Troy See) did not go down without a fight, but Alexandra Palace was clearly in a different league once he was set alight by Juglall, scoring by one length from Cannon Hill (Barend Vorster) for a stable quinella, with Rafaga holding on for third another 1 ¾ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 36.2secs for the mile on the Short Course.

Assistant-trainer Ricardo Le Grange was an image of both elation and sheer relief at the winner’s box.

“I would like to thank Mark Yong for investing a hell of a lot of money to buy those top South African horses and promote them here in Singapore,” said Le Grange deputising for Shaw.

“It’s a rare privilege for us as I know not many trainers have this chance of having such good horses.

“But at the same time, it is also very satisfying to see such horses do this first-up. They go through a hell of a tough time to get here and it is a great feeling when they win in spite of all these hurdles.

“It’s true his first trial was very average, but he has gradually come on and has improved every day. We knew he would improve from today onwards, no matter what he did.

“We’ve thought of a few big races for him, but what matters more now is he pulls up sound and safe. If he stays sound, I’m sure he’ll have a great future here.”

Juglall for one had never had the shadow of a doubt the horse he once rode to second in South Africa could visit the Kranji winner’s circle on debut.

“He’s such a classy, big strong horse. I’ve been working on him all along and I was pretty happy with his condition going into the race,” said the former two-time South African champion apprentice jockey.

“He actually felt stronger and more mature. I thought he could win as the 1600m was an ideal trip for a comeback race.

“From Day 1, I rated him highly and I was happy I was able to get back on him as I know him from South Africa. It’s always a pleasure to get on top of such classy horses and to win first-up as the stable has had a bit of a bad patch of late.

“He was a bit fresh today and was sweating badly behind the gates, which I was not too happy about, but he was all good during the race.”