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Battle Of Troy has not quite continued on the upward spiral that many thought he would be set on after his two consecutive wins at the end of last year, but trainer Desmond Koh still hopes the real potential is still to be tapped.
The Singaporean handler explained that the Flying Spur four-year-old has been tackling stronger opposition since these two wins in Class 4 and Benchmark 67 company, both over 1400m, but still acquitted himself creditably, especially his closing second to Absolute Miracle two runs back.
But a tinkering with the distance has not brought the result Koh was hoping for. At two tries over the mile, Battle Of Troy put in his worst performances at Kranji, including his last place in a small six-horse field of an Open Handicap race two weeks ago, albeit not outclassed by Time Odyssey.
This time around, Koh is dropping the PFG Racing Stable-owned galloper back to seven furlongs in Friday’s $80,000 Kranji Stakes C event, confident enough the spark will be reignited.
“Battle Of Troy has not run badly against better company this year, but the mile may have been too far for him at his last run,” he said.
“He has pulled up in good shape and I thought why not drop him back to 1400m and see whether he will perform better. He has done nothing wrong since and I expect a good run from him.
“Condition-wise, I have to say he is only so-so, but I hope he can bounce back this Friday.”
Koh has also brought about a change in riders but he explained in this case, it was not a deliberate tweaking.
“CC Wong (Chin Chuen) was committed to the ride on Red Ant as he won on him at his last start. I’ve booked Alan Munro to ride Battle Of Troy,” said Koh who also saddles Oxbow Sun, a last-start winner, in the same race.
“I’m sure Alan will give Battle Of Troy a good ride. As for Oxbow Sun, he is well and has his chance, too; Benny Woodworth won on him and will ride him again.”
Koh saddles another horse raced by Cheng Ting Kong in Friday’s main race, the $100,000 Benchmark 97 race over 1100m, Sun Pioneer, who is not far from taking over Order Of The Sun as the Macau-based businessman’s No 1 horse at Kranji. He will, on the other hand, have Wong, his regular partner back in the irons.
The Nadeem five-year-old has always been one of the more consistent “Sun” residents since his Singapore debut in 2015. He hit a bit of a flat spot last year but slowly regained traction towards the second half of the season with three more wins, all over 1100m.
The Australian-bred began his 2017 campaign with a bang in a Kranji Stakes C race over 1000m in January before being tipped out. At his comeback race on March 19, Sun Pioneer underscored his current brilliant form with a fast-closing second to Cavallo in a Benchmark 97 race over 1100m.
With higher-rated customers like Nova Swiss and Olympic Anthem in the race, Sun Pioneer will carry only 51.5kgs on Friday, but Koh has no reason to believe why he cannot hold his own.
“Sun Pioneer is in good form. He’s a very consistent horse,” he said.
“No doubt, he’s running against a tough field, but he’s got a nice weight on his back, and I hope he can turn in another good run.”