Fountain Of Fame looks set to make it a double

The last time Fountain Of Fame decided to put on a show at the Perak Turf Club, he did it in flowing fashion.

Flashback to the Class 4B event on Oct 4, and Fountain Of Fame was unstoppable.

Although the son of Charm Spirit had come into the 1,600m race with no form to show, racing fans at Ipoh felt that he was the one to beat. They confidently backed him as the $15 favourite.

Ridden by Suriya Arunsalam, Fountain Of Fame got the show going when he stole the lead upon settling down.

It was an advantage which he held until the finish.

The nine-year-old galloper never gave his rivals a look-in, and coasted to a solid 6½-length win.

Fountain Of Fame has since had a short rest, and trainer Asogan Thangaraju will be looking for something big from his stable's veteran runner.

The New Zealand-bred turned in a winning gallop on the morning of Oct 14.

Striding out freely over the 600m, he stopped the clock at 35.3sec.

It was one of the fastest gallops on the morning.

It could not have been any better than that and Asogan, who has entered a strong string of 14 runners for the meeting on Oct 19, could be looking at a back-to-back racing double from his old-timer.

Formerly trained by James Peters at Kranji, Fountain Of Fame scored four times in Singapore over 1,200m on the Polytrack, but he has won five races from 1,300m to 1,600m on the turf in Ipoh.

It will be his 70th start on Oct 19, and he can beat them all in the Class 4A race (1,400m) for his 10th win.

Another one looking to secure back-to-back victories is Forever Love.

From trainer Khor Peng Hwa's barn, the Iffraaj six-year-old would have caught the eye when he turned in a good 600m gallop on the training track.

While not as swift as Fortune Of Fame, he did have a good stretch-out when running the 600m in 40.7sec.

A one-time winner from 11 starts, Forever Love's owner Lim Chun How had to have tremendous patience.

Having run in Australia and Macau before, Forever Love has won twice over the mile on the Polytrack in Macau. But, after landing in Ipoh, he ran in 10 races without success - not even a second or a third placing to show.

Still, the New Zealand-bred's last-start victory was good stuff.

Ridden by Ganeesh Munusamy in that Class 5A sprint on Sept 7, Forever Love held a spot behind the pace and made his move only at the 200m mark.

Relishing the freedom to stretch out, he drew away from his rivals to win by 5½ lengths.

That was over the 1,200m in Ipoh, and it earned him a promotion to Class 4.

It remains to be seen if Forever Love possesses enough muscle to win against better opponents in the Class 4A event (1,000m), but his most recent training gallop does seem to suggest that he could be ready.

Elsewhere on the 12-race meeting on Oct 19, you might want to make a mental note of Let's Come On Baby.

Trained by Stephen Cook, Let's Come On Baby is, like Fountain Of Fame, getting on in years.

But the Ferlax eight-year-old can still raise a pretty good gallop, and he showed his stuff when running the 600m in a fluid and fluent 39.1sec.

His Australian handler would have been mighty pleased with the workout.

In fairness, Let's Come On Baby has been out of sorts since that last win on June 28.

That day, when partnered by Shiva Ngyanasegaran in a Class 5B race (1,400m), he was unsighted early and had to come from near last at the top of the home straight to put himself into contention.

He eventually took that race by a neck.

Last time in a Class 5B contest (1,300m) on Oct 4, Cook handed the reins over to Nik Shahronnizam, and Let's Come On Baby adopted different racing tactics.

The black gelding raced closer to the lead and was second at the 400m mark.

But his rivals came at him thick and fast and, swamped near the finish, he had to settle for fourth spot.

Cook, who has entered a tight and taut team of five for the Oct 19 meeting, will be hoping that Let's Come On Baby shows up in the Class 5B race (1,400m).

brian@sph.com.sg