3 minute read
The lightly raced Holy Empire is proven to be racing in career best form of late and appears well place to continue his winning run at Singapore on Sunday.
Having led all the way over the mile two back Holy Empire adopted a different role last start when taking a sit just off the speed.
Looming up strongly at the top of the straight he proved very impressive in the run home when putting his rivals away comfortably and proceeded to justify his short odds.
A victor of five of his nine career starts to date the son of Holy Roman Emperor has shown stark improvement this time in having improved 21 pounds since his first up win back in May.
Continuing to rise to the occasion the Michael Freedman trained galloper appears to tick all the boxes on Sunday and given the ease of his last start win it is clear he is a horse who is still open to further improvement.
On Timeform weight adjusted ratings he sits just two pounds shy of his main rival Meteor Mike however he is expected to improve between five and six pounds again on Sunday where as Meteor Mike appears to have already reached his mark given he is a seven-year-old.
In seven attempts at this track he has only missed the money once including three wins and Alan Munro is also yet to finish outside the placings aboard the four-year-old from five attempts.
Although proven handy over the mile his career best performances have been seen over seven furlongs and is unbeaten when having two weeks between runs.
From the good draw expect Munro to roll forward and settle just off the speed with his stablemate Matterhorn expected to press forward from the wide gate and take up the running.
Given there doesn't appear to be a great deal of speed engaged it could result in Holy Empire taking up the running however given the way he raced so brilliantly stalking the speed last start expect Munro to adopt similar tactics.
The sharp turn of foot he displayed during his last start win was highly impressive with his last 600m recording one of the quickest times of the day.
With little to no weight on his back Sunday's race should prove no different as he is expected to prove too sharp for his rivals over the concluding stages as the majority will likely be spotting him a start at the top of the straight.
In a race with a lot of capable gallopers Holy Empire still appears to have the edge as he is one of few gallopers who still remains on the improve and if successful in doing so than he simply should be too good.
The David Hill trained Meteor Mike showed good improvement second up last start when finishing second behind Holy Empire.
While clearly no match for his younger rival he does meet Holy Empire 3.5kg better off at the weights on Sunday which does swing the race firmly in his favour.
In five starts racing third up Meteor Mike has placed on three occasions and has placed in 20 of his 35 attempts on the turf track.
His record at seven furlongs is of some concern however he hit the line strongly enough last start and should receive a charmed run in transit from the good draw.
Jose Verenzuela jumps back aboard on Sunday and possesses a handy record aboard the seven-year-old having placed in three of his six attempts and is striking at 21% for the Hill stable this season.
While he obviously doesn't have the same amount of scope for improvement of that of Holy Empire the fact he does have such a considerable turn around at the weights suggests he can trouble his main rival.
The Cliff Brown trained What Now has not been disgraced in tougher company of late and boasts a second placing behind Mr Big at this track and trip two starts back.
His effort behind Holy Empire last start was solid enough and also meets him better off at the weights for that defeat.
From the awkward draw he should roll forward and settle just off the speed and given he does possess a handy turn of foot he is expected to be right around the mark.
The Bruce Marsh trained Supernova has been racing in great form of late and chases a hat-trick of wins on Sunday following his solid performance to defeat Perfect Charger last start.
While untried at the trip his racing pattern of settling off the speed should see him handle it and given he drops 3kg from his last start win he is expected to be flying home late.
He has placed at eight of his last 10 starts and has also continued to raise the bar with each start this time in and must be included.
Good luck and happy punting.