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Wonderful was one of the star performers at the barrier trials on Thursday morning, but trainer Shane Baertschiger said it might amount to nothing after all.
The in-form Australian handler would like to run the Hidden Dragon five-year-old in next Sunday’s Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes (1400m) but given his current rating of 86, he is not sure if he will make the cut.
Should Wonderful not get in, Baertschiger will still be represented by the higher-rated Best Tothelign (97) for the $200,000 race, which will be at its eighth renewal.
But he would prefer the Macau-based Lai Chan Leong-owned Wonderful to get a berth, not to just have strength in numbers, but more because he might then stay in his box for a long time to come.
“He was an 1100m-1200m horse before but he’s too slow for these now. I think the 1400m suits him better now he is older,” said Baertschiger.
“He will be up in grade no doubt, but there are no other races for him. I looked through the programme.
“The plan was always there to run him in that race, but with his current rating, I’m not sure if he will get a run.
“He will get in at a low weight if he does, but as it’s a special conditions race where Group 1 horses will get only 58kgs, he will be out of the handicap.
“It’ll be a pity if he doesn’t run in the Saas Fee as the horse is flying, as you could tell from today’s trial where he ran below one minute, and there would be no races for him for quite a while.”
Ridden by Matthew Kellady, Wonderful was not the slickest out of barrier No 1, but rallied to go and lead from go to whoa. Italian Job stayed on his girth at first but was quickly left behind when Wonderful extended at the top of the straight, even though he was still under a tight hold, to go and score by six lengths in 59.91 seconds.
Previously prepared by Mark Walker, Wonderful (who came to Singapore as a one-time winner known as Expectation when prepared by Sydney premier trainer Chris Waller) could not find the line in six starts (four seconds) until he joined Baertschiger where he scored five wins in a row between 1100m and 1200m.
As for Best Tothelign, Baertschiger said the Align six-year-old had pulled up in good order after his first-up run in the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m), a race which was more of a tune-up for the $152 chance.
“The Lion City Cup was just a race for him to kick off. The Saas Fee Stakes was more his main target,” said Baertschiger.
“It was a good run off this first prep run and I expect him to go better over 1400m.”
John Powell will take the ride on Best Tothelign while Kellady is booked for Wonderful should he get a start in the Saas Fee Stakes.