3 minute read

The feature race tonight comes along early being Race Three but a last start easy winner can repeat the dose with a 3kg claim from an in form apprentice.

Lago Bay has won seven races and all have come over 1000m on the poly, a specialist distance for sprinters, so you could say this evening he is in the strike zone to make it eight.

He will contest the S$75K Open Benchmark 74 over 1000m on the all weather track and after a 3kg claim from the in form apprentice Kasim A’Isisuhairi can lead throughout.

The natural pacemaker can run slick time and at 56kg after the claim I see him as winning again.

Last start saw the Shane Baertschiger trained seven-year-old rediscover that sensation of a successful salute with an all the way win in the same grade as he contests tonight.

He clocked 58.79 and won easily under 55.5kg from the ace draw so this evening at 56kg from the two gate whatever beats him should win.

The time is significant as Lago Bay will not need to run much quicker if at all to score and being proven at coping with heat from the opposition to the home turn is also a ringcraft plus.

Baertschiger has only had four winners this season so far but should be much higher up in the premiership with a staggering thirteen times second placed accumulated.

His strike rate is super for paying a dividend and if that surfeit of runner up results can be converted more into wins then the numbers would be amazing.

The stable is always good to run in the money but it is all about wins when it comes to mattering in the memory of bettors and of course the training table.

One of the in form runners is Soul Commander with Joao Moreira shooting for a hattrick on the Mark Walker trained four-year-old that can come out fast early and likes to lead.

Whether he can cross Lago Bay is doubtful but being drawn right alongside in gate three must help.

Moreira has only been on Soul Commander for the last three starts and the results are a second and then two wins in a row.

The last start win in a Class Four over 1000m came in 58.89 with a classic Moreira rope-a-dope ride from in front.

He went quick enough overall to fool the opposition but got that midrace slight breather that allows him to boot his mounts clear the closing stages.

Soul Commander was just .10 slower than Lago Bay ran and both won easily but in 1000m sprinting that is a decent gap.

Walker is still holding a two win lead in the training premiership this year and I have no doubt the Moreira factor is the main reason.

The usual cavalry are coming behind Walker and the likes of Laurie Laxon and Pat Shaw are bayonets drawn and in full-blooded charge mode!

I see Soul Commander with his natural speed as being a key Walker stable contributor this year as he has much more improvement to come.

The baby of the field is the Michael Freedman trained three-year-old Cavallo, which has his fair share of weight to carry at 56kg but the gelded son of Testa Rossa can cope.

The upside of this runner is clear to see and the Mummify Stable have another serious earner on their hands for several seasons to come.

Cavallo has only missed paying a dividend in Singapore once and it just so happened to be a fourth and at his only turf outing.

His other six starts came on the poly for three wins and three placings.

I think a game second to Boundless Glory four starts ago in a Class Four on the poly over 1200m is the race that showed he will work into the open sprint ranks if not this year then next.

The latest three outings for Boundless Glory have seen a win, a very close second and a win so he is flying and headed to the Open ranks too now a mature five-year-old.

Manoel Nunes will pilot Cavallo and he is building a good rapport with Freedman runners plus has proven an inspired addition to the Singapore riding ranks.

He is currently second in the premiership with eighteen wins or half the tally of fellow Brazilian Moreira but no one can stop Joao-mentum.

We may not be far away from a Brazilian one, two and three as Ivaldo Santana is currently fourth equal on nine wins and riding well.

Santana will ride the resuming Fast Break for David Kok and this gelding is a poly track sprinter through and through.

Fast Break bled the last time he raced so is fresh up from the mandatory three month ban but often this sees the best efforts arise from such runners.

He has had many trials (four since the start of this year) so the stable is taking no chances.

The form is there resuming and over 1000m three of his five wins can be found with a Class Three over Hush Hush and a Kranji Stakes C over Raleigh making good reading.

Kok also has the useful Dynasty Knight resuming but he usually needs a race or two and is a turfy.

Baertschiger apart from the top pick Lago Bay has Just A Man drawn the ace but he has not paid a dividend since a third in November of 2011.

The outside gate of seven is not a negative for Viva Panata as he is a strange sprinter in that the worse the trip he has often the better he digs in the run home.

Five of his seven wins have come on the poly and after a 3kg claim he is the surprise at 54.5kg.

The last time he won a race was from gate seven and it came in a Kranji Stakes C over 1100m six starts ago under 58kg.

I see Lago Bay as very well in here after a claim and drawn to win at the only trip he has succeeded over.

Baertschiger does not want to be known as ‘Shane second’ so look for his team to be winning tonight and don’t mention too him he has had thirteen runner ups for 2013 so far!

Younger legs in sprinting can bow the older ones so Soul Commander and Cavallo do seem the up and comers in the field with it all ahead.

Enjoy the feature race.