Don De La Vega's the Target
Friday and Sunday Singapore best bets
One has gotten over the second-run syndrome and the other is in sizzling form - thus both should make the best bests at Kranji today and on Sunday.
Don De La Vega had shown up well after resuming from a break and was expected to score but was a beaten favourite on both occasions. But it's obvious a second success for the Cliff Brown-trained three-year-old should come sooner than later.
First-up on March 16, Don De La Vega was strongly backed down to $15 and he just found The Wind in rare galloping mood, going down by three lengths in a Class 4 Premier event over 1,400m.
Punters still jumped on the bandwagon second-up two weeks later in a similar race but Don De La Vega ran below par, obviously a victim of the dreaded second-run syndrome.
With those two runs under his belt and a good trial last week, he should come up tops again in the final race tonight.
On Sunday, the Daniel Meagher-trained Target has a first-rate chance to complete a hat-trick over the Polytrack 1,700m in Race 5.
After all, the five-year-old American-bred has only seven rivals to contend with in the Kranji Stakes C event in which he stands out on form.
His record reads 2-2-1-1 for his last four runs.
On March 16, he broke through for his third victory, beating Carnelian by half a length in 1min 47.66sec in a Class 4 field over the Poly 1,700m. After travelling second, he scooted away to victory.
He proved his win was no fluke on April 6. Although promoted to Kranji Stakes C, he scored an easier win in terms of margin and time - by two-and-a-half lengths in 1min 46.80sec.
Drawn favourably in barrier 2, jockey Glen Boss, who rode him to his last two successes, should dictate terms all the way again.
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