3 minute read
Pat Shaw is just three wins behind Laurie Laxon in the 2011 Singapore Trainers Premiership and could conceivably barge his way into the lead or a share of it after Race Eight tonight
If he does not level up or take the lead tonight through the almost unbeaten Argy Bargy then looking at his numbers to run on Sunday and their chances then by this weekend the premiership could have a new leader.
Laxon will not give way easily and has seen many a challenge and fended it off before but got toppled last season by Steve Burridge and Shaw this year is building up an internationally sourced premiership winning stable.
Shaw would also adore a training premiership to add too the remarkable Rocket Man story and tour.
Argy Bargy (formerly known as Don Petardo) since coming to Singapore has raced five times and won four of them and finished a close second the other time.
He is not a very big entire, as like many Argentinian gallopers it is all about compact power rather than brutish size that matters, which is contrary to the Los Pumas forward pack in a Rugby World Cup year.
The S$95K Benchmark 97 over 1000m on the poly tonight has drawn a very fast field indeed and Argy Bargy is certainly facing his hardest task to date in Singapore with 58kg to carry.
Argy Bargy is quite remarkable in what he has achieved, maintained and overcome since arriving in Singapore.
The entire has never finished worse than first or second in every single race and trial he has had at Kranji, so he hates being beaten the few times he ever has.
Ten trials for seven wins and three seconds to go with his near perfect race record is proof of that.
His only raceday defeat saw him suffer a bleeding attack in January this year but since his mandatory stand down time has come back better than ever.
The son of Mutakddim has natural early pace and can cruise in or near the lead, so bad luck bar a health issue is always taken out of the equation.
Barend Vorster, who is in scintillating riding form himself and part of the Shaw charge for premiership honours, has ridden Argy Bargy in every start on raceday and racenight and all bar one trial outing.
He knows the horse inside out and will be fully aware this is the Aconcagua for Argy Bargy to overcome this evening.
The last start G3 win by Argy Bargy in the G3 Paititi Trophy (1200m) on the turf showed he belonged on the big stage, as he beat by a length the likes of Waikato, Merchant and Excavator.
However he did only have 50kg and tonight will jump a staggering 8kg for a just recently turned four-year-old and this is the main reason why he is vulnerable.
There are other positives and negatives to factor in but the weight rise and relation to stronger opposition is still the elephant in the room.
There have been some red-hot runners beaten regularly of late at Kranji and Argy Bargy will be at a skinny price but not scaldingly short.
He has never raced at 1000m but all his trials have come at the trip, so no concerns in the dash department.
The most he has ever carried to win was 57kg and he will be striking several swift and serious sprinters here with 1kg more, so that is a concern.
Barrier three is a positive as by being a couple of widths away from the fence he will not get trapped on the rails if by chance he jumped averagely because over 1000m every half a stride of tardiness gets extrapolated greatly every 10m covered from the outset.
Shaw has deliberately spaced the races of Argy Bargy since it bled and the sprinter goes best semi-fresh.
He won a trial okay last week over a stablemate Brunei Royal that goes fast and good itself, with a win shortly coming for him too worth blackbooking now.
There are a couple of early burners drawn just outside Argy Bargy and a runner fresh up on the fence that could cause some grief initially plus one drawn wider that has a claim and only knows a single style of racing and that is to press forward and attack.
I expect the start of the 1000m here to be simply ferocious and more jostling and jockeying for position than a game deciding line out in a rugby test match.
The weight of 58kg has less effect being a 1000m race but when you are giving away 8kg to a known pressure-applier and 2kg to 5.5kg to your main threats then the win or nowhere factor comes into play.
Powerful Tree will receive 5.5kg from Argy Bargy and this lightly tried but fifty percent win striking sprinter is a poly proven performer through and through.
Second up, which is the state he will go around here, sees a win and two placings achieved from as many outings.
Joao Moreira will ride for the first time but he is making it an art form to get on cold and win atop runners of all classes and racing patterns this season.
I rated the fresh up second under 57kg by Powerful Tree highly, as he did a power of work wide near the pace in a very fast run race, even if distant at the post.
The winner was the gifted Rapido Star and ironically he had 5.5kg less, which is precisely the amount Powerful Tree will get from the favourite tonight.
Powerful Tree has had his share of issues to keep him away from the track but is a natural on pacer with enough talent to fell even the most in form sprinter.
Apache Crown will enjoy a 4.5kg buffer from Argy Bargy and has drawn barrier two as well, so this very consistent sprinter is a serious threat as long as he jumps cleanly and the good gate is not wasted.
He is coming back 200m here to the 1000m, so the start and where he is positioned or the rider has to accept, after the madness early, is the key too his win prospects.
His poly record is strong and the form through his three starts this campaign makes for super reading even if he has not won any of them.
Apache Crown has finished second twice and fourth in his three runs this time in, with a fresh up second over 1000m to Dictator from gate two under 50kg making good reading as a race-like comparison.
He then finished fourth to the smart Ato on turf and a last start close second to Merchant on the poly.
This is grand form, as Ato last week won the G3 Woodlands (1200m) and Merchant was a very unlucky third beaten a couple of nostrils, after his rider lost the whip 300m out and had to then hand-slap the horse to the post.
Squall Line will resume in this from the ace and Cliff Brown, who is in good form and is the trainer of Merchant too, has this poly and 1000m loving sprinter ready to roar.
He trialled up nicely earlier this month and Brown has clearly marked this race as a target to resume in knowing his big gun Merchant was the one for the Woodlands last Sunday.
Brown only missed it by that much in Maxwell Smart speak and in fact if the rider of Merchant held onto his whip then he would have been proven absolutely correct.
Two runners in the field tonight only know one speed or racing style and that is to run fast in or near the lead and see who punctures first.
Bionic Boy and Doraemon just love to pour it on from the outset and see what remains at the finish.
I see barrier four for Doraemon as being crucial to the tempo and outcome of the race, as this sprinter is right beside Argy Bargy at the jump and will come out smoking.
Last week Doraemon was three-wide in the lead attacking in the Woodlands and stopped before the home turn and dropped alarmingly right out in the run home as if something was wrong.
If he is back here five days later then all must be okay and this six-year-old gelding can play spoiler here or give longshot bettors a real sight and make the multiples pay massive.
Two starts back albeit on turf he held the inside line then sped through to lead and gave bettors a good show and finished second to Ato, so can rumble in this grade alright.
Bionic Boy has drawn awkwardly in nine but a 3kg claim can help offset this to some extent for what is a natural on pacer.
I felt his fresh up effort at the end of July in a track record demolishing 1000m on the poly showed a big improver for this and he is lethal second up.
At his best he is right in this, with a G3 placing to Rocket Man in the Woodlands last year then being followed up by a G3 placing to Ntini on the turf.
The last win and show of form by Bionic Boy came five starts back, when winning a Benchmark 97 over 1200m on turf under 52.5kg and defeating the fleet of foot Northern Lion.
Mr Raffles even if better known as a turf sprinter would on his best day or night be a threat here.
He resumes here with 56kg from gate eight having never raced at 1000m and only on the poly twice since coming to Singapore.
The gelding has trialled well on the poly at the trip and upon closer inspection his two races on the all weather for a third and a fourth make excellent viewing.
A fresh up third under 58kg was followed by a fourth nine days later in an open sprint behind Better Be The One, which would go on to place a close third at G1 at Meydan behind J J The Jetplane.
Better Be The One is a serious sprinter to trust your form analysis from or around and is second only to Rocket Man this year, which was shown at Kranji when in the G1 Lion City Cup (1200m) that is the order they finished.
Vlad Duric is back aboard Mr Raffles tonight and he is the only rider to have won on it plus two of those four victories came from awkward barriers.
I find it amazing that the longest price Mr Raffles has started at in Singapore is S$40 or A$8, so you can expect for once he will be overs and getting value is always worth a ticket.
Do not blink or you may miss this race and enjoy the contest and keep an eye on the Shaw drive for the premiership this weekend in Singapore.
Argy Bargy will either shove these around like an Argentinian scrum usually does to the opposition or he himself will become the shovee victim of a collapse.
