3 minute read
There were a number of key performances over the weekend in Singapore with handy stayer City Lad proceeding to steal the show on Friday night.
While unable to salute the judge at his past 17 starts the son of Elusive City appeared extremely well placed in the Group 3 Yew Tee Classic Stakes and duly saluted.
A notable Group 1 placing in both the 2013 Patron's Bowl and 2013 Kranji Mile, City Lad had surprisingly been out of the winner's list for close to two years despite his continued consistent form at the top level.
Having been simply outclassed behind Dan Excel in the Group 1 SIA Cup two back his form either side of that mark had proven quite solid and on raw handicap ratings he sat 22 points above his nearest rival Blue Lion which in essence would require him to carry 11kg more under regular handicap conditions.
Allotted just two kilograms more than the latter on Friday night really emphasised just how well he was placed and he proceeded to live up to his very short quote.
Tracking the speed nicely in third, Manoel Nunes waited until entering the straight before peeling him out to make his run with the rising five-year-old quickly hitting the front.
Though quite wayward in the straight, he was never in doubt and easily disposed of his less proven rivals.
Saluting by just over three lengths, City Lad wasn't required to run up to anywhere near his career peak with his victory rated two pounds below his previous performance behind Goodman.
With that long overdue victory now under his belt, City Lad is expected to again measure up in the tougher company with his trainer Desmond Koh indicating he will target both the Kranji Mile (1600m) and Raffles Cup (1800m) in October.
Confidence is never to be underestimated in horse racing and given City Lad still has a fair bit of improvement up his sleeve on best form if placed in similar company another victory could not be far away.
The battle to be crowned champion juvenile kicked into overdrive on Sunday with the Laurie Laxon trained Affleck proceeding to turn the tables on star stablemate Kiwi Karma.
Though meeting her far better off at the weights (4kg) this time around the son of Battle Paint still won the race at the weights when saluting by over two lengths.
Jumping away well in the centre Danny Beasley quickly tacked on to Kiwi Karma's back after the talented filly sped to the front from the wide draw.
Always appearing to travel well throughout, Affleck displayed a sharp turn of foot to quickly tackle his stablemate shortly after entering the straight and raced away for a dominant victory.
Proceeding to record a new career peak it now sets up an intriguing battle with Kiwi Karma in the Juvenile Championship in three weeks time.
Under set weights - Kiwi Karma would carry 2kg less than Affleck with the fillies allowance and hence leaves little between the two on Timeform weight adjusted ratings.
Nonetheless the latter still appears the leading contender which was emphasised post-race with Danny Beasley virtually declaring him: "Take nothing away from the filly, but when my bloke will turn up the heat, I reckon he’ll blow them away in the Juvenile Championship."
Affleck remained one of few horses to reel off a closing sectional inside standard on Sunday and given he does appear open to further improvement moving forward he is definitely the one to be sticking with.
The Stephen Gray trained Twickenham continues to raise the bar with each career start culminating with an impressive victory in the seventh event on the weekend.
Having settled back off midfield two starts back Corey Brown elected to roll forward and take up the running from the favourable draw with the son of Artie Schiller proceeding to lead throughout.
Having set a fairly decent tempo out in front he showed a good turn of foot in the straight to pinch a decent break and hold all his rivals at bay.
Successful in bringing up a hat-trick of wins the rising four-year-old has now improved 11 pounds since his maiden victory in May and is a galloper who is clearly heading in the right direction.
The half-brother to the Group 3 placed Black Ice, Twickenham is expected to improve further as he steps out in trip and is likely to be seen at the mile at his next start.
He does appear one of the more promising types racing around Singapore at present and given Stephen Gray claimed he is the second best horse in his stable he should be followed closely.