A 10-out-of-10 ride from jockey Benny Woodworth saw Polytrack specialist Good News come from the rear to lift the $250,000 Korea Racing Authority Trophy (1200m) on Sunday.

Parked in mid-division as is his usual style, Good News ($36) was trapped a little wide but never looked out of his comfort zone, and once Woodworth peeled him out for his final assault from the top of the straight, it was pretty clear which way the momentum would swing at the business end.

Hard ridden by Woodworth, Good News unleashed a powerful turn of foot on the outside to down $13 favourite Lincoln Road (John Powell), who had taken the first run upon straightening, and score with a length to spare.

Rich Fortune (Danny Beasley) motored home late from well back to finish third another gap of 2 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 11.18secs for the 1200m on the Polytrack.

Among the three Korean horses who flew in to contest the second running of the reciprocal event between the Singapore Turf Club and the Korea Racing Authority, US entire Parang Juuibo (Choi Bum Hyun) produced the best finish in sixth place for trainer Kim Soon Keun, missing fifth place by just a neck to Hypernova (Alan Munro).

Triple Five (Nooresh Juglall), long cast as the most likely to pose a threat to the home team’s vice-like grip on the race should there be one (he went off at $49 compared to his fellow Koreans’ triple-digit odds), did momentarily live up to that tag when he was seen disputing the lead with The General (Barend Vorster) and Nova Warrior (Manoel Nunes) in the initial stages, and even poked his head through the rails gap when the field swung for home.

But the only Busan runner (other two are from Seoul) trained by South African trainer Bart Rice soon knocked up to finish ninth with the Shim Seung Tae-trained Always Winner (Imran Chisty) tailing off a long last.

But all honours to Good News and trainer Tan Hor Khoon for having kept the KRA Trophy at home for the second year running (Theo Kieser’s Super Winner won the inaugural edition last year), but more to the point, for getting his ward rock-hard fit for the race that he had long earmarked for him.

“This horse has been with me for only a short while (previously with Alwin Tan), but he’s proven himself to be a very genuine individual,” said Tan.

“He got over some ulcer issue after his last start and his work has been good leading up to this race. Though I didn’t know much about the Korean horses, I was confident we had the home advantage.

“The fast pace suited him. I was smiling when I saw them fighting for the lead, but I was still worried he would not be able to make it.

“Benny had him in a good spot and when I saw him coming with his big strides on the outside, I knew he could not lose.

“Lincoln Road is a good horse, but I thought before the race we could beat him as he only has a short sprint.”

Tan said he would definitely nominate Good News, a five-year-old son of Charge Forward for the Korea Sprint (1200m) on sand in Seoul, Korea on September 11.

“On that win, I will have to enter him. Benny is very keen to go as well, as he’s ridden there before and knows the track welll,” said Tan, who has yet to travel horses in 17 years of training at Kranji.

Woodworth said he was in a perfect place throughout with Good News never off the bit and once he pushed the button, he would have been disappointed if he had not got up.

“I was not panicking at all even if he was caught wide. It’s a Polytrack race,” said the Malaysian jockey.

“I was just taking it easy as they rolled along upfront. I knew they had to come back; I had a lot of confidence in my horse’s ability and he finished very strongly in the end.

“It’s not easy to get into a race like this, and I knew I’d better not miss this opportunity when I get on a good horse and I’m glad I didn’t.”

Michael Lee