Australian trainer Darren McAuliffe was nice and relaxed following the arrival this morning of his star three-year-old Universal Ruler into Singapore for the $1million KrisFlyer International Sprint over 1200 metres on 18 May.

That was despite the fact the trainer hadn’t slept for 36 hours as he put the finishing touches to his trip from Melbourne to Singapore overnight.

An hour delay in Melbourne meant McAuliffe and Universal Ruler didn’t arrive at Kranji until 8.00am.

But McAuliffe reported the three-year-old son of Scenic didn’t turn a hair on the flight.

“I couldn’t be happier with how he travelled,” McAuliffe said. “He handled it beautifully.

“I had him drenched before the flight, so he didn’t drink a lot, but he ate a bag of hay.

“The really pleasing thing was that when he arrived here at the stable, he put his head straight into the feed bin and had a big drink.

“I was a little worried about how he would take to the water, but there were no problems at all.”

McAuliffe said Universal Ruler weighed in at 452kg when he left Melbourne and he would have the gelding weighed later to see what effect the flight may have had.

Universal Ruler has had just the six race starts, winning his last five in impressive fashion.

His last two victories have been at Listed level in Perth, winning the Bunbury Stakes over 1400 metres by a length-and-a-quarter on March 11 and then the Easter Stakes over 1500 metres at Ascot by a length on March 22.

Prior to heading to Melbourne for his quarantine stint, Universal Ruler scored a soft victory in a Belmont 1000 metre trial on April 7.
(Source: Singapore Turf Club)