Singapore Classic kept at home

The European challengers proved to be no match for the locally-trained Palace Line in the Stg£400,000 Singapore Classic at Kranji racetrack today.

The three-year-old took the Group Three, nine furlongs race by an impressive two and a half lengths.

Godolphin`s Happy Diamond had taken the lead in front of Palace Line in the early stages of the race but was clearly beaten in the final furlong as Palace Line shot past him, and he also missed out on second place to the French filly Lethals Lady.

'Happy Diamond ran well,' declared Frankie Dettori after the race. 'He just wasn`t good enough on the day. The winner was very strong and is improving.'

And trainer Saeed bin Suroor added: 'I can`t complain. Frankie had to take him in front as there was no pace.

'I thought before the race that he would be in the first three and that is exactly where he finished. He ran true to form and we are happy with him.

'We will now take him back to Dubai and decide there where he will run next.'

Palace Line is trained by Patrick Shaw in Singapore and he confirmed that connections are now planning to send him to Dubai to take part in the UAE Derby.

His trainer said: 'He is a very good horse who beat some other good horses today. I am very happy with this result and I`m looking forward to Dubai.

'Naturally we will have to see how he comes out of his race but if all is well we will be leaving in two weeks.'

The other European challengers also failed to land a real blow.

Bedawin trained by Francois Doumen could only finish sixth while Limerick Boy and Huambo, both trained by Andreas Schutz in Germany, ran very disappointing races, finishing thirteenth and last respectively.