3 minute read

The G2 E W Barker Trophy has been on the Kranji calendar since 2002 and in ten runnings we have seen seven times the winner carrying a lightweight.

The seven successes have carried from 50kg to 52kg and it is within this parameter that may well provide win number eight.

It is in fact Race Eight tonight the feature event and with a stake of S$350K no surprise a good field has been drawn.

The line up contains a couple of younger runners with the majority age group being five and six-year-olds.

Joao Moreira in cricketing terms is two boundaries away from a record that could stand for eternity and the unthinkable double ton really is looming large.

The special trophy presentation should Moreira get it (fate should never be tempted!) will have to be a rather unique and breathtakingly special as this will be like reaching Everest or K2 in Kranji.

Moreira has been aggressive in Group racing in 2012 and his record of success is there for all to see, so a G2 tonight with What Now at 50kg is looking very likely.

He will not make the 50kg but you can bet he will be under 52kg and that is the golden window for the E W Barker Trophy.

What Now has drawn the ace and we see some very relevant win form over 1400m on the turf just two starts ago with the Cliff Brown trained runner.

The gelding has won five races and all have come at the 1400m and two runs back with Moreira atop from the ace at 51.5kg the victory was dominant in a Benchmark 97.

After sitting behind the leaders Moreira got out and detonated the five-year-old on yielding footing (important for wagering confidence should weather play a role) to boom clear at the 200m.

I like the fact he put away El Padrino and Speedy Cat with ease as both those four year olds have serious formlines plus it is worth noting fourth home in the race was a rival tonight in Let’s See Action.

He had 1.5kg more than Let’s See Action and beat it by two lengths so after all is done the gap will be the same this evening but What Now has a good gate again and this time the challenger a bad barrier.

However even from barrier thirteen I do give Let’s See Action a chance to bolster the trifecta having rarely gone a poor race lifetime.

His nineteen starts have returned four wins and nine placings plus three fourths, a fifth, a sixth and a ninth (at G1).

Ivaldo Santana rides the Pat Shaw runner so it could make for two Brazilians in the finish.

All five wins for What Now have come on the turf and Moreira has been the rider each time too.

Brown has big numbers in over the weekend and couple of extra Aussie riders are coming in for Sunday to fill a big race void so you can follow his team with confidence.

I reckon the race is on now for what stable and owners can be the one that presents Moreira with win number 200.

The extra incentive to be a part of history will see some clamouring to possibly have Joao on your runner when the magical number happens.

Moreira rode the winner of the E W Barker Trophy last year in Super Easy for Michael Freedman, who won it the year before with Any Humour.

The two winners before that both came from the Laurie Laxon stable in Ace Aliado and Big Maverick.

The jockey premiership for 2012 is all over and consider that Moreira has ridden more seconds and thirds (97 seconds and 77 thirds as of before tonight) than the number of wins by the current second placed rider Stephen Baster (67 wins).

Moreira has finished fourth 55 times and that is the current win tally for the third placed rider at the moment in Danny Beasley.

Simply staggering statistics.

The training premiership however is as tight as a drum with three wins separating Freedman, Steve Burridge and Laxon.

Freedman has three runners tonight in an attempt to get the hattrick in the feature with Always Certain, The Comedian and Mr Raffles.

He has a good mix there of backrunner, strong closer and a pacemaker or tempo forcer.

Laxon just has the old marvel Waikato running and after looking like it would be his swansong last start when fifth in the G1 Raffles Cup (1800m) he is back tonight.

Whether the nine-year-old can carry 59kg against some younger lungs and legs is debatable but never doubt the nineteen-race winner for giving it a go.

Burridge has two runners tonight in the mad front runner Benji’s Empire, which often proves quite sane when hanging on regularly after draining the ping out of his opposition, and the gifted Shuttle Man.

I see a poultice of pace in the feature race and those sitting poised and cold ridden runners could well benefit deluxe at the finish.

Shuttle Man is the baby of the field as the lone three-year-old (Northern Hemisphere bred) but he is very good and with full oxygen intake during a race this is a possible winning train to board.

Gate five tonight a plus and remember a three-year-old won it last year in Super Easy (at his fifth start in Kranji) that Shuttle Man has finished third behind before at G1.

Shuttle Man is very good and as long as the footing does not get sodden the long strider can win and there is more symmetry.

Super Easy won the Barker last year at technically his eighth start (he had raced three times in New Zealand prior to coming to Singapore) and Shuttle Man tonight will be having his eighth outing.

The feature race pace sees three possible lead at all cost types in Keep Away. Mr Raffles and Benji’s Empire and two of them have double-digit draws.

A handful of other runners will settle down handy from varying barriers such as Simply The Best and the wider drawn stablemates Let’s See Action and Davide.

I have What Now getting a dream sit and only traffic can cost him the race the run home while Shuttle Man could coast along better than midfield the outer before his rider pushes the go button.

Flying Fulton is tough and he could go forward early from a wide draw but is more likely to sit wide in the midfield or a smidgen handier but can do that and still fight on.

Waikato from a good draw will be as usual unleashed for one last lunge that could make Laxon the proudest man on the track.

Look for a tear or two from Laxon, a Kranji training titan.

It is hard to find fault for What Now as every fact and statistic gets the wagering tick from rider to trainer and trip and turf (dry or yielding).

He looks likely to be another brick in the wall that is the rapidly near completion Moreira tower of two hundred.

Shuttle Man on raw ability the main threat then for some value the likes of Let’s See Action appeals a tad.

Waikato would be the most apt winner sentimentally and Flying Fulton will pay overs in this so put him into your multiples.

Enjoy an exciting E W Barker Trophy.