3 minute read
Gingerbread Man is not a huge horse but his will to win is immense and today he starts in the first leg of what could be a career second Triple Crown.
The son of Shamardal has won half his starts or ten race wins to be precise but also telling is he has finished second six times.
You could make a movie on the exploits of Gingerbread Man last season, when he won the three-year-old Triple Crown.
Today in Race Nine on the card the Bruce Marsh prepared entire will start at restricted odds in the S$300K G2 Stewards' Cup over 1400m on the long course C turf track.
He has drawn perfectly in gate two and at set weights has the opposition mentally beaten in what is the first leg of the Singapore 4yo Triple Crown.
Last season we had three different winners of the legs in Jamal Malik (G2 Stewards' Cup), Speed Baby (G1 Patrons's Bowl over 1600m) and Clint (G1 Singapore Derby over 2000m).
The only common theme was that Better Than Ever finished second in each leg.
Gingerbread Man went big fresh up under 59.5kg on the turf for second and was beaten by his stablemate that carried 9kg less.
Marsh knows his charge is unbeaten second up in four outings so will come into the feature race today brimming with confidence but it is not in his nature to spout out loud.
Over the 1400m we find Gingerbread Man has won three and placed once in five goes with the miss being a fourth to the undefeated in Singapore sensation Super Easy.
The wins came over the likes of Black Ice and Keep Away but also the placing was a third under 57kg to The Comedian and that reads well now too.
Opie Bosson now he can freelance at Kranji after this weekend for six months is in a buoyant mood and eager to erase an awkward record atop Gingerbread Man.
He has ridden it five times and is yet to win on the gun galloper, which when you consider the entire has only lost five other races it makes for uneasy reading.
Bosson liked the movie Seabiscuit but prefers the script that he is part of when riding Gingerbread Man in a Triple Crown.
The big race rider can do what Vlad Duric did aboard Gingerbread Man last season and sweep a series.
The barrier of two for Gingerbread Man has really changed the tactical battle that this big field promised and speed maps went out the window a like flaming cake pulled from the oven.
Won't Stop can cross and lead if rider Oscar Chavez wants and he is the one that could give the favourite a great tow along to the home turn.
He is a chance himself to ping away in the run home and cause a minor upset as the gelded son of Testa Rossa is smart and swift.
The seven race winner may be better on the poly but is a dual turf winner and at 1400m his record of five attempts for a win and three placings makes for appealing reading/viewing.
The win came in a Benchmark 97 early January over Cash Luck and Rapido Star and the miss came on debut.
However his placings have come behind The Comedian twice, which is good form, and a second to Super Easy when beaten just half a length after working to the lead in the G3 Three Rings Trophy.
It is that super form thread race that will be the best beacon for betting success today in the feature event.
The third horse home behind Super Easy and Won't Stop was Rafaga and having drawn the inside stall today he comes into the exotic bet realm for sure.
He was two lengths behind Won't Stop at the line carrying the same weight, after working up outside him on settling.
It was a good effort and since then Rafaga has run an outstanding second at G3 under WFA against all comers in the Polytrack Championship (1600m).
He led out then sat handy the inner before working off near the home turn and running home gamely to finish runner up to Flying Fulton and the Derby winner last season Clint was third.
Winners out of that race since include the fourth finisher Flying West, the fifth finisher Arowana Dot Com has won twice and the sixth finisher Waikato came out and won at G2 over 2000m two starts later.
Arowana Dot Com from gate four today clearly comes into the reckoning if Rafaga is a trifecta chance and he is already a six-time winner on the turf.
I should add here Rafaga last start ran in the G2 QEII Cup over 2000m and never ran the trip at WFA but he is fine and trialled up super behind Goal Keeper in slick time last month.
Nandowra has the size and ability to do something special over the Triple Crown and he is respected as a seven-race winner with four of them coming on turf.
He is yet to miss paying a dividend at 1400m and today will be going for five straight wins.
Foxtrot Hotel has good speed and upside but last start he seemed to wobble late at 1600m so I still have a query on him in a serious run contest but his trainer Cliff Brown loves the big occasion.
Prior he won at 1400m with ease for rider Danny Beasley, who notably stays atop the promising former Great Britain galloper.
His first five starts in England reaped a win, three placings and a fourth.
Beasley has ridden Nandowra six times for two wins, two placings, a debut fourth and a miss at G1 so knows only too well what it can and cannot do.
Greg Cheyne picks up the ride on Nandowra today for the Michael Freedman stable and it will be his first ride aboard the imposing gelding.
One other name I must mention because this is the value runner to follow throughout the Triple Crown in the very game off pacer Chase Me from the Desmond Koh stable.
Chase Me is a five-time winner on the turf at 1400m up to 1800m and also last start ran a ripper sixth in the G2 QEII Cup at WFA beaten two lengths behind Waikato.
K B Soo rides Chase Me and he may want to keep his racing goggles instead of throwing them to the crowd should he win one or more of the Triple Crown legs.
Often in his career Chase Me has been caught wide and working throughout but it has toughened him up to be a Derby prospect as he now does not know when to give in.
When he gets an economical run he has a sharp turn of foot the run home so is not a one-dimensional four-year-old at all.
Gingerbread Man looks money for jam on cake today against his own age at set weights drawn a treat, with Won't Stop a tempo threat as he can make it or force it.
Rafaga with a soft fence run is some value and Chase Me the one at juicier odds.
Enjoy the feature film Singaporebiscuit.