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Smart grey Zac Kasa has ticked all the boxes as he gears up towards his racing comeback, but trainer Cliff Brown is still wary of the opposition he takes on this Sunday.
The $100,000 Class 1 race over 1200m on the turf has drawn a top quality field of 11 made up of the likes of Nowyousee, Be Bee, Autumn Rush and Super Fortune, to name a few.
Zac Kasa is no slouch himself with his three wins in only 11 starts, but is probably better remembered in defeat when he nearly made all in the crown jewel of sprints, the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) last year, only to be bettered by Lim’s Cruiser.
He last raced in a Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m on November 20, but he could only finish fourth to the same Lim’s Cruiser.
Brown has tipped the Reset four-year-old out since, feeling that it was high time for a break for the promising galloper owned by Dr Andy Wong’s Zac Stable.
“I felt he had had enough at his last prep. The break has done him a world of good,” said the Australian handler.
“He’s good and well, probably not 100% fit, but I was happy with his trial on Tuesday morning.”
Ridden by Michael Rodd, his partner at all his three wins, Zac Kasa began brilliantly as he always does, stayed in the firing line for 100m before strolling to the outright lead in a heartbeat.
Untroubled, Zac Kasa was allowed to stride freely on a loose rein, and was hardly touched when a hard-ridden Elite Beast (Benny Woodworth), one among the first four triallers for newly-licensed trainer Jerome Tan, collared him close home to beat him by a neck.
“I wanted to give him one last trial just so he can get to the barriers. He’s still a query there,” said Brown in reference to his barrier antics which have improved significantly from the days when he gave handlers a torrid time.
“But he definitely seems to be more settled now. It’s quite a strong race he’s in, he’s got a small chance as he seems to be fit enough.”
Zac Kasa will carry only 51kgs, which means Rodd cannot jump aboard this time around. Brown has booked lightweight jockey Daniel Moor for his first steering job on the grey.
“He’s really good. What you see is what you get with this horse,” said Rodd after Tuesday’s barrier trial.
“He was very comfortable and as he’s running this Sunday, we did not want to do too much with him. It was a good maintenance gallop.”
With Zac Kasa having always been billed as something out of the box, Sunday’s comeback race is considered as just a first step towards bigger and better things.
“We’ll see how he measures up and how he pulls up,” said Brown.
“We’d be looking at the sprint races like the Lion City Cup for him, and some of the four-year-old races like the Stewards’ Cup and maybe the Derby if he can get up to that kind of distance.”
Just like last year at its inaugural launch under the new concept, the Group 1 Lion City Cup will again be run on the Super Saturday night on May 25, together with the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) and the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m).
The Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1400m) is run on June 30 and the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) is run on July 21. They used to be the first and third Legs of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, but with the discontinuation of the latter following the axing of the second Leg, the Group 1 Charity Cup (1600m), they are run as standalone four-year-old events from this year.
