The Laurie Laxon trained Martial Art brought up his fourth victory in Singapore over the weekend with an impressive win in the $125,000 STC Open Handicap (2200m).

In another brilliant ride from Singapore’s Champion Jockey Joe Moreira, he switched Martial Art (NZ) (Tiger Hill x Kwan) off for a rails run in transit and got the striking bay clear at the 300 metre mark where the five-year-old strode away to a one-and-a-half-length victory.

“When I rode Martial Art in trackwork, I felt he was funny in his action around his hind legs. He was not fully striding out,” said Moreira.

“I told the assistant trainer Shane (Ellis) about it and left it to them to fix it. And that’s exactly what they did, which to me is the mark of a great trainer like Laurie.”

The win also saw Moreira break his own record for winning rides in a season, with the race bringing up victory number 116.

Racing in solid form for his last three starts, Martial Art came into the Open Handicap with two seconds under his belt, with Moreira on his back for both of them.

The son of Tiger Hill is being aimed at the third leg of Singapore’s Triple Crown, the Singapore Gold Cup, which is run over the same distance (2200m) at Kranji Racecourse at the end of November.

Martial Art was purchased by David Ellis from Pencarrow Stud for $250,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2008 Karaka Premier Sale. He has now won four of his 20 starts in Singapore and almost S$340,000.