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The $90,000 Magic Millions Rocket Man Stakes over 1000m on Friday night marks the opening leg of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe Series and the first two-year-old event of 2013.

Alvin Tan and Tan Hor Khoon each have one runner making up a nominations list of seven.

It was expected Kieser, known as “King of the Kids” with multiple two-year-old wins over past seasons, would have runners but it was a little surprising to see Walker have more than one runner in Friday night’s contest.

Nominations were extended until Tuesday, allowing the Walker-trained Q Nine Star (second) and the HK Tan-prepared Macau Treasure (fourth) to pass their ORT’s and gain a start on Friday night.

Walker said it wasn’t by design that he left it so late with Q Nine Star to make his way into the field, rather a slight niggle when preparing to trial earlier had forced his hand.

An Australian-bred by More Than Ready, Q Nine Star did a lot of his preparatory work down in Melbourne with Troy Corstens and was well forward when he arrived.

“He had a little hiccup with a foot that forced him to miss a trial,” said Walker. “It wasn’t anything major and it all has worked out OK.

“This horse did a lot of his work with Troy Corstens before he came up here and has been really well behaved since arriving.

“He’s been up here a while and goes about his work with a minimum of fuss. He’s very relaxed and will appreciate getting out to 1200m a bit later on.”

Walker’s other runner – Dr Octopus – had more of a rushed trip getting to the opening two-year-old race of the season.

The son of Perfectly Ready had two trials in New Zealand before leaving in mid-January to reach Singapore in time for the opening two-year-old race of the season.

The gelding finished third in a trial on January 15 and was on the plane to Singapore a couple of days later where he spent the next two weeks in quarantine.

He spent time on the walker to retain his fitness and passed his 400m trial on February 20 and his ORT over 1000m, winning the heat, a week later.

“He came up here pretty fit,” said Walker. “He had a trial in December and another one in January before hopping on the plane a couple of days later.

“We put him on the walker two times a day while in quarantine so he didn’t lose anything there.

“Two-year-olds are quite adaptable so he should have no trouble handling the pressure come raceday.”

Walker said the prizemoney on offer for the two-year-olds was “fantastic and worth having a shot at” and both horses would get their connections “out” if successful.

“One was a NZ$46,000 purchase (Dr Octopus) and the other an A$40,000 purchase,” said Walker. “First prizemoney would basically cover those expenses already.”

Joao Moreira will partner Dr Octopus while Manoel Nunes will ride Q Nine Star after guiding him into second place on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile Walker’s warhorse Flying Fulton will be out to land back-to-back victories in the Group 3 $200,000 Polytrack Mile Championship over 1600m on Friday night.

Flying Fulton defeated Rafaga and Clint when ridden by Opie Bosson in last year’s edition and will have Joao Moreira and a set of pacifiers on this time around.

Flying Fulton hasn’t raced since finishing fourth behind Black Ice in a 1600m Kranji Stakes A on February 24.

“We gave him a bit of a break following his last run and he put on a few pies (a bit of weight) around the middle, but he’s pretty much right for Friday night,” said Walker.

“We’ve put the pacifiers on him as he’s become a bit complacent and layed-back.

“Shafiq (Rizuan) has done nothing wrong on him but sometimes a change to a senior rider on these older horses can spark them up a bit.”

Walker has had a flying start to the 2013 season and with 20 winners so far sits atop of the Trainer’s Premiership, five winners clear of compatriot Laurie Laxon.

He said he put the success down to a new crop of horses that were coming into his stable.

“When I first got here I had a lot of second hand horses,” said Walker. “After I was able to win races with those horses the owners let me go out and buy them horses at the sales.

“I bought some nice yearlings and let them develop back home and they are now starting to come through and have been winning races.

“We’ve got fresh stock and we’ve been seeing the results. I haven’t been doing anything differently but it’s certainly been a great start.”