3 minute read
A dominant display in the Group 1 Lion City Cup has seen Zac Spirit stamp himself as the best horse currently racing in Singapore capping off his meteoric rise this time in.
With only a nose separating both Zac Spirit and Emperor Max in the Group 3 Kranji Sprint last start the son of Flying Spur would go on to raise the bar considerably when defeating Emperor Max comfortably by one-and-a-half lengths.
In what proved a fairly one act affair, Zac Spirit appeared in firm control from the outset when settling down beautifully in fourth with Mr Big and Goal Keeper setting a solid tempo out in front.
Peeling off the fence rounding the turn for home, Alan Munro proceeded to get the dream split aboard Zac Spirit and he quickly loomed up to Goal Keeper.
Under a vice like grip Zac Spirit always looked to have his rivals covered and when given full bore inside the 400m, he showed a sharp turn of foot to quickly draw clear and race away for a commanding victory.
Successful in notching up a new career peak, the lightly raced four-year-old is now the highest rated galloper currently in Singapore and has further pushed his claims for a tilt at the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint.
Unbeaten in his four starts this time in, Zac Spirit has impressively improved almost 10 pounds on his previous best and given he has only had the 12 career starts, he does appear open to further improvement.
Although it is no secret that the KrisFlyer International Sprint is another kettle of fish, as he will have to find again if he is to measure up against the expected array of talented International opposition.
Hong Kong star and defending champion Lucky Nine currently sits five pounds clear of Zac Spirit on recent form and if you take a line through his victory last year, Zac Spirit is required to improve a further 10 pounds if he is to continue his winning run.
In the last five years the average winning Timeform rating for the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint has been 124 with the average second placegetter being 117.
At this point Zac Spirit does appear a solid hope of placing in the feature event however with the likelihood of some of the best sprinters from around the world taking their place in the field it remains to be seen as to whether he can make that significant leap.
However with that being said, there is no question he is one of the more exciting gallopers in Singapore at present and he will create plenty of interest in the lead up to KrisFlyer International Sprint in May.
Promising three-year-old Rise 'N' Shine was successful in living up to his very short quote on Sunday when taking out the third event in style.
Successful in notching up his third victory from four career starts the son of Zabeel does appear to have a very bright future with his latest performance notching up a new career peak.
While not suited by the slow tempo set out in front, Manoel Nunes never appeared to panic on Rise 'N' Shine and when asked for his full effort in the straight he let down powerfully to burst between runners and draw away for a dominant victory.
Being by Zabeel he is expected to improve further when seen at a mile and beyond and given his current ratings profile he appears capable of improving between four-five pounds at his next outing.
On raw form he is a fair way off being considered a serious Guineas contender however he is a galloper heading in the right direction and if placed conservatively he should prove very hard to beat wherever he lines up.
The Patrick Shaw trained Johnny Guitar was unable to reel in Wild Geese in the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Sunday however his performance still had plenty of merit as his closing sectionals were simply outstanding.
Though not one to take anything away from the winner, the fact Wild Geese was able to lead and reel off a closing sectional of 33.84, indicates the 2000m race was over a long way from home.
Having settled down fifth approximately three lengths off Wild Geese passing the 600m, the fact Johnny Guitar was able to storm home and finish second, half a length away from Wild Geese was ultra impressive.
His closing sectionals were easily the quickest on the night and given Wild Geese was over one and half seconds inside standard for his last 600m further pushes the strength of Johnny Guitar's performance.
At this point he does appear Singapore's leading chance in the International Cup however much like Zac Spirit he has plenty of improvement to find if he is going to measure up to the far tougher company.
A more realistic goal is the Singapore Derby later in the year as he is clearly the horse to beat at this point in time.
