3 minute read
Talented two-year-old Jupiter Gold appears well placed to bounce back to winning form this evening when due to contest the Group 2 Golden Horseshoe in Singapore.
An impressive winner at his first two starts, the 2YO puzzle did however become a little more blurry when the Steven Burridge trained Macarthur caused a minor upset in the IRT Juvenile Stakes [1200m].
Jupiter Gold was the headline act leading into the event but failed to showcase his best form finishing third.At first glance the race appeared to favour the on-speed runners and could be deemed a sit and sprint, however that couldn't be further from the truth.
Over the 1200m journey race leader and eventual winner Macarthur set a very fast clip, recording 34.45 seconds for the first 600m.Conversely the closing section (final 600m) recorded was 36.33 seconds — in summary they ran the first half of the race over 11L faster than the second half.
It was an out and out slog with Macarthur reigning supreme, the backmarkers were unable to come into contention after being run off their feet early.
A handy maiden winner against the older horses two back Macarthur proceeded to take that next step and improved 10 pounds on his previous best.When adjusting for sectional mark ups he returned time figures ahead of the bare form and given there was more than five lengths back to fourth, it appears a strong piece of form moving forward.
Having conceded 2kg to Macarthur on that occasion, Jupiter Gold does however appear set to turn the tables at set - weights.When finishing third behind Macarthur, Jupiter Gold returned a performance eight pounds below his peak and a return to his best form sees him set a decent standard.
Although beaten last start, he still remains the top seed leading into the Golden Horseshoe.Each career start he has continued to raise the bar and if able to continue that upwards rating spiral he looms as a major threat.
From the middle draw expect Vlad Duric to adopt a prominent position and Macarthur is sure to be in this for a long way.The big disappointment from the IRT Juvenile Stakes was the Shane Baertschiger trained Caorunn who clearly failed to live up to expectations.
Well supported late to start the $2.60 second favourite, Caorunn never came into contention finishing fifth beaten 5.3L.All in all he performed close to 10L below his career best and obviously remains under strong notice this evening.
In what was his debut in Singapore the former New Zealand based galloper can be forgiven for his effort as he conceded a key fitness edge to a majority of his rivals.With just the sole trial under his belt the brutal early tempo clearly found him out and Caorunn is expected to improve sharply.
A winner of three of his six starts prior to coming to Singapore, Caorunn is already a Group 3 winner and one should always be prepared to forgive a good horse one bad run.At his best Caorunn is more than capable and while he received no favours with the wide draw he still shapes as one of the leading contenders.
The surprise packet of the race is the James Peters trained Skywalk who backs up quickly following his very impressive debut win last Friday.By the same sire as champion two-year-old and three-year-old Affleck, Skywalk displayed good ability in his two public trials and proceeded to justify his heavy market support.
A dominant four length victor comparatively Skywalk was marked 15 pounds faster than impressive Class 4 victor Lim's Sincere and is clearly a horse with a bright future.On the bare form he admittedly has a bit too find on the likes of Jupiter Gold, Macarthur and Caorunn, however Skywalk appears more than capable of taking that next step.
Whether it will all come too soon for him remains to be seen, however he cannot be taken lightly.Good luck and happy punting.
