Military Attack
With D-Day just around the corner, there was a sense of a job well done on Saturday morning, and that it’s now all in the hands of the jockeys – and hooves and heart of the 22 horses. The foundation work, the bulk of which was already done back home, is all nicely tucked away under the belt, with just a few minor touching-up left for raceday morning, though a couple of the international runners did leave it late for a final pipe-opener.
BALMONT MAST (KrisFlyer International Sprint) and to a lesser extent, SMOKING SUN (Singapore Airlines International Cup), livened up the quiet morning with their faster workouts on Track 2 and 6 respectively. As for the 10 local contenders, it was just chill-out time with a touch of limbering and stretching around the training tracks, just to keep the engine humming until Sunday.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL CUP
City Lad (SG) – Desmond Koh
Two laps of light canter on Track 3 with track rider aboard. “He just had an easy time doing two laps of canter on Track 3. He’s fit and ready,” said trainer Desmond Koh.
Dan Excel, Military Attack (SIA Cup) & Sterling City (KrisFlyer) (HK) – John Moore
All three horses had a light workout over two laps on the Polytrack, mostly trotting mixed with a light canter. “They just had a light workout,” said Hong Kong-based trainer John Moore. “They ate up well last night, there was not a grain left, which is always a good sign. We’re going in with fit horses and high hopes tomorrow, in particular Military Attack. My riding boy has given me plenty of positive feedback on him. He says the horse really likes Singapore, he’s been here before and has been enjoying his time here. Overall I would say everything, in terms of our preparation, has gone perfectly, and gone to plan. Now we just have to perform.”
Johnny Guitar & Barend Vorster
Johnny Guitar (SIA Cup) & Slew Of Lode (KrisFlyer) (SG) – Patrick Shaw
Both Patrick Shaw runners came out for one lap of canter on the Polytrack, ridden by their respective race-riders Barend Vorster (Johnny Guitar) and John Powell (Slew Of Lode), with for the first time a special spectator watching keenly from the canteen, their owner Fred Crabbia. “They both came out for a nice canter on the Polytrack, just to stretch their legs over one lap,” said trainer Patrick Shaw. “They did pacework and one turf gallop each over the last week. Slew Of Lode went a little quicker in his pacework yesterday. Between the two, I like Johnny Guitar a bit better. He is a proven Group 1 winner in Argentina whereas Slew Of Lode is not and faces a big leap in class in the KrisFlyer. But both are well, and I can only keep my fingers crossed for Sunday.” South African owner Fred Crabbia was pleased with the work done by Shaw on his two representatives, and also tended to agree with his trainer that Johnny Guitar stood a better chance of giving his race (SIA Cup) a shake. “They both look well. Slew Of Lode looked nice on the Poly, but Johnny Guitar would have to be my pick between the two,” said Crabbia who combined with Shaw to win the KrisFlyer with Rocket Man in 2011.
Limario (RUS) – Doug Watson
Easy canter over one mile on the Polytrack with track rider Martin Pearson up. “I missed his first few days of preparation here but since I got him in December, this is by far the best he’s been,” said trainer Doug Watson. “Let’s hope he’s in the class of these other guys. He’s a Group 3 winner (twice) in Germany and he ran well in Dubai. He was only three-quarter fit and still finished a nose behind African Story (who would go on to win the Group 1 Dubai World Cup three weeks later) in the Group 1 Maktoum Challenge (2000m). That’s his perfect trip, 1 ¼ mile, that’s what he was bred to run. I thought he ran quick (34.2 seconds for the last 600m) to my eye when he worked on Wednesday. We’ll just hand-walk him tomorrow. He’s fit and ready.”
Mull Of Killough (UK) – Jane Chapple-Hyam
Walked and trotted on Track 6 with track rider Abigail Harrison aboard. “I couldn’t be happier with him. He’s in mint condition,” said trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam. “Everything’s A-OK. Tomorrow is raceday and he will just walk as he’s already cooked.”
Si Sage
Side Glance (UK) – Andrew Balding
Walked and trotted twice on Track 6 with track rider Leanne Masterton aboard. “He came out for his usual trot and canter on the side track and did two of them,” said track rider Leanne Masterton. “He’ll come out for a trot on the same track tomorrow. Everything’s fine. Andrew saw the videos of his workouts and was very happy with what he saw.”
Si Sage (USA) – Darrell Vienna
Cantered on the turf track under race-rider David Flores. “He cantered over 1 ½ lap on the grass, back up to the wire,” said trainer Darrell Vienna. “He’s probably worked harder than he would have done back home. I don’t weigh my horses, but with the naked eye, he looks tighter. Day to day, I think he’s holding his weight well. He’s eating well and cleaning up his feed bin. We will just go for a jog on the grass tomorrow.”
Smoking Sun (FRA) – Pascal Bary
Trotted out on Track 6, walked and returned with a strong canter over 800m with exercise rider Patrick Lemagny up. “That was exactly what I wanted. A nice strong canter on the last day before the race,” said French trainer Pascal Bary with the Niarchos family racing manager Alan Cooper by his side. “He looks even better than yesterday. He walks better and is a lot more switched on. I weighed him and he was at 490kg. I don’t normally weigh my horses back home, but he has put on weight since he arrived, which is a good sign. Gloria De Campeao (2009 SIA Cup winner) also had a last burst before raceday when he was here. The only thing is he didn’t go on the turf at all. Gloria was also a seasoned traveller and required a bit more work as there was a long time between the Dubai World Cup and the SIA Cup.”
Tokei Halo
Tokei Halo (JPN) – Hisashi Shimizu
Did most of his work on Track 5 where he trotted over two laps and did an easy canter over another three laps. Then moved to Track 2 (Polytrack) where he had a good canter over one lap. Was then brought to the parade ring and barrier gates for some schooling before the big day. All work was done with assistant-trainer cum track rider Takeshi Matsushita aboard. “We brought him to the saddle ring stalls because I wanted to familiarise him with the area before the race,” said trainer Hisashi Shimizu. After his tour of the parade ring, the five-year-old Japanese-bred entire spent the rest of the morning trackwork session, close to 20 minutes, undergoing gate practice where he was a little reluctant to move into the stalls. “He’s normally good at the starting gates, so I’m not sure why he was like that today,” said Shimizu, who even went back to the stables to fetch some carrots to try and coax his runner but to no avail. “The barriers here are a bit different from the ones we have in Japan. They’re quite narrow, especially the back entrance, and maybe that’s why he wasn’t comfortable. But tomorrow should be okay. I don’t think there’ll be a problem. He’s in very good form and fit to race.”
Wild Geese (SG) – Steven Burridge
Cantered on the uphill track. “All’s good with him. He just went on the uphill track this morning,” said trainer Steven Burridge. “He’s eating well and is in good condition. That’s it, win or lose on Sunday, I’ll be back here up and early the next morning, with the same job to do.”
KRISFLYER INTERNATIONAL SPRINT
Balmont Mast
Balmont Mast (IRE) – Edward Lynam
Galloped on the Polytrack under track rider Declan Quirke. “It was grand. He cleaned off nicely,” said trainer Edward Lynam’s daughter Sarah. “He tipped along and quickened as he turned into the straight. That’s what dad normally does back home one day before the race, give the horse a blowout. Dad is pleased with the daily reports. The horse is ready for his race on Sunday.”
Captain Obvious & El Padrino (SG) – Alwin Tan
Both Captain Obvious (track rider) and El Padrino (Danny Beasley) went for a slow canter on Track 4. “Today was just slow canter for them on Track 4,” said trainer Alwin Tan, fresh from his Singapore Guineas triumph with War Affair the night before. “It was a quiet time for them, just like my family and myself after last night. It was my first Group 1 win, but I didn’t have a big night as I had to wake up early this morning to work my horses.” Jockey Danny Beasley was also happy with El Padrino’s final workout before Sunday. “He was raring to go under me,” said the Australian jockey, who was also the winning rider aboard War Affair. “He’s ready.”
Goal Keeper (SIN) – Theo Kieser
Cantered on the Polytrack with track rider in the saddle. “I normally give my horses a long walk before a swim, but there was no-one at the stable to do that, and I had no choice but to send him for some work on the Polytrack,” said trainer Theo Kieser. “He’s in good shape. He will just have a walk tomorrow.”
Lucky Nine
Lucky Nine (HK) – Caspar Fownes
Since the start of official trackwork on Monday, the defending KrisFlyer champion has been the first horse out bright and early for his workout and stuck to his routine on the final day of the official morning exercise. He went up and down Track 4 for his warm-up and then had an easy canter on Track 2 (Polytrack) over 1 ½ laps. “He was lovely out there today,” said track rider Richard So. “He’s fit and healthy and we’ve had no problems with him the whole week. His weight is good and he’s in good condition. He normally goes for a canter or is hand-walked on raceday but I’m still waiting for instructions from my boss (trainer Caspar Fownes) about what he wants us to do tomorrow.”
Medicean Man (UK) – Jeremy Gask
Cantered over two laps on the Polytrack with track rider Samantha Ward astride. “He did a couple of laps of canter on the Poly,” said trainer Jeremy Gask. “He went nice and slow. He’s bright and ready and I’m really pleased with his overall preparation. It’s all systems go.”
Zac Spirit (SG) – Cliff Brown Cantered on Track 4. “He just went for a canter on Track 4 today. He’ll do nothing tomorrow, it’s raceday,” said trainer Cliff Brown. “We’ll just hand-walk him around the stables.”
(source: Singapore Turf Club)
