3 minute read

Just the sole meeting in Singapore over the weekend with the Ricardo Le Grange trained Ode To Joy one of the stand-out performances on Friday night.

An eye catcher two back behind his stablemate Storm Troops, Ode To Joy clearly relished the step up to 1400m when proving too strong late.

In what was quite a strong BM 74 race, expect the form to really stack up and Ode To Joy is certainly one to take out of the race.

Ode To Joy

Ridden by Barend Vorster, Ode To Joy always travelled well and really appreciated the strong tempo set by three-year-old Macarthur.

While giving weight away to all of his rivals, his class shone through when powering away late to score by 1.5L.

Only relatively lightly raced for a five-year-old (22 starts), Ode To Joy possesses quite the handy winning strike rate and did return a new career peak on Friday night.

His best form has been achieved when kept relatively fresh and expect Le Grange to continue that trend in the future.

Capable between 1400m - 1800m, Ode To Joy is likely to be tried in tougher company at his next outing, but if able to continue his progression he is certainly capable.

On his latest performance, he appears to be heading the right way and if placed to his advantage he can certainly win again.

Admittedly he is quite an exposed type, however Ode To Joy is still worth adding to your blackbook as more wins appear in store.

Wimbledon

Another galloper who really impressed on Friday night was the James Peters trained Wimbledon.

Generally not a pronounced leader in this grade, however jockey Vlad Duric had other ideas with the five-year-old entire leading throughout in the fifth event.

A winner of seven of his 29 starts, Wimbledon is certainly more than capable and while somewhat prone to mixing his form, he began the New Year in fine style.

Successful in recording a new career peak, Wimbledon appears set for a bumper preparation as he generally improves with racing.

Although yet to win in Group company, he has placed previously and may go on to bigger and better things this time in.

The overall time was slick and he expect the form to hold up through both Nova Strike and Super Winner.

The Alvin Tan trained Nova Strike was heavily supported late and while unable to reel in Wimbledon, he did have excuses after not being the best away.

He really found the line well and appears another galloper who is back in good order.

At his best he is quite the talent on his day and is also worth sticking with.