3 minute read
In professional golf the term moving day is applied to Saturday and players getting themselves into contention to win or improve their overall standings.
As regards the Singapore training premiership for 2012 moving day is Sunday as the big three try to put some daylight between each other.
There are just six more dates with destiny at Kranji for the year after today and anyone of Michael Freedman, Laurie Laxon and Steve Burridge can hold the trophy aloft.
Not sure there is a green jacket for the winner but whoever is victorious will be celebrating at scoring a very tense and hard fought win that has been on tenterhooks for many weeks.
The never to be broken double ton that Joao Moreira is close to achieving in one year has rightly been the focal point of the Singapore year as those are riding numbers out of this world.
Moreira is the only one that can break his own records as he is very focused but treats each win as if it was his first, so 200 plus new gifts in a year is a fun and stress-free way to approach it.
The training battle however has been to-and-fro for quite a while and the pressure will be on Freedman, who is shooting for his first title, whereas Laxon and Burridge have been there and done that before.
It is hard to imagine Freedman getting flustered as that is not his style and by the end of today hopefully the training picture is more clear cut.
Bettors can back runners from the three yards in contention with confidence until the rest of the year as each want the title for varying reasons.
Burridge wants to defend his crown and Laxon wants it back while Freedman wants another first achievement realized.
There is some serious turnover potential from now until the end of the year as Moreira is a magnet for making pools massive and now add in the runners from the premiership-chasing trio of stables.
The feature event today is the small field in Race Seven, a S$125K Kranji Stakes A over 1400m on the turf log course E track.
Half the field is prepared by Burridge and Laxon has one runner while Freedman has none.
Team Burridge have the best weighted prospect in El Padrino that was luckless last start and rider Oscar Chavez will never get into a middle column pocket again.
El Padrino is very gifted and at 52kg over 1400m it is hard to find fault except a very wet track but that takes out most runners chances anyway.
Last start was the first time the four-year-old (formerly known as IP Man) missed paying a dividend in Singapore as his only two failures prior came at Meydan earlier this year.
I see El Padrino as the one to beat because forgive last time when not well ridden and the footing was slow.
Use his prior outing for second at 1400m on the turf under 53.5kg to What Now in an Open Benchmark 97 as a better guide.
The effort was monumentally brave and What Now last start won a G2 very easily.
Also for extra confidence know that three starts ago El Padrino won and What Now finished third, which is a really good barometer of the class this Burridge galloper possesses.
The second best chance for Burridge is Black Ice that loves the turf and 1400m.
He too looks well placed at 54kg after a 1kg claim by Matthew Kellady, who does get the optimum out of the gelding by way of fence hugging rides at times.
Kellady has been atop six times for two wins and a second, with one of the victories coming in a Kranji Stakes A under 52.5kg in April over 1400m.
The names he beat in that race included Davide, Jamal Malik, Merchant, Mr Raffles and Better Than Ever.
Fast forward to today and Black Ice resuming (he is a dual winner fresh up) against a tidy field but nowhere near the depth that he has already beaten.
I also like the fact Burridge has not trialled Black Ice, as with the health issues that horse has had and needing to get mileage into him, it tells me the horse is forward enough.
There is no need to waste an outing with a trial where no stakemoney is paid.
The other Burridge runner is the resuming Risky Business, a triple G1 winner that has not lined up since the Longines Singapore Gold Cup of 2011.
He won the race in 2010 and is class but will need the run today and a 4kg claimer atop tells bettors that plus of course at 1400m he has only ever placed twice from ten attempts.
Laxon lines up Waikato and he (the horse) seems to be making more comebacks than the great John Farnham!
The wonder money-spinner has been retired twice of late and raced twice since so Laxon must be listening to Whispering Jack.
I think he wants the marvel to go out a winner and after a last start third in the G2 EW Barker Trophy no one can blame Laxon for wanting the fairytale ending.
The last time Waikato ran in a Kranji Stakes A he of course won and it came on the turf at 1400m way back in April of 2011.
Laxon has a premiership title to fight for and a favourite horse to try and retire on a winning note so he has a bit on his plate at the moment.
Never play poker with Laxon as his expression never changes and he knows more about what you are doing than you yourself!
The other two runners in the field are from the Shane Baertschiger stable in Ghozi and El Milagro.
Ghozi is class when happy and healthy so at 57.5kg after a claim as a proven turf performer he is a threat.
His two runs since resuming have seen incremental improvement and Baertschiger will see an opportunity today to play premiership momentum spoiler.
The three-times G1 placed and G2 and G3 winning Ghozi is by Catbird so a rain-affected track is not a total game changer for him unlike some others in the field.
El Milagro has not won at 1400m and is more a poly performer at this stage but he is fit and strong so at 52kg could cause some headaches for the others.
Barend Vorster rides and he rode the gelding at its first Singapore start to a win so knows the power of the gelding.
Also the record shows El Milagro when he has a lightweight always goes a blinder.
Enjoy the feature event but more so the associated importance from a training and sentimental aspect especially.
El Padrino is the best suited Burridge runner and the one to beat but Waikato would be a double whammy for Laxon towards the premiership and retiring his pride and joy a winner.
Farnham has been to Singapore and many an ipod will still have Johnny belting out a tune on trackwork and trial mornings!