Dutrow primed for back-to-back victory
Kranji Sunday preview
Trainer Shane Baertschiger's horses have been going great guns in recent weeks and his latest hauls have taken his season's tally to 53 winners, one more than his personal best achieved last year.
The lanky Australian they call "Stretch" at Kranji has a strong hand with 12 runners spread over seven races tomorrow and one of them is my best bet.
Well, Dutrow has proven to be a smart type and the four-year-old Australian-bred certainly stands out on form in Race 3, the Class 4 event over the Polytrack 1,100m.
The bay gelding was a trifle unlucky not to win on debut on Aug 20. Leading from the start, he was pipped by the useful Gran Torino by half a length in a Polytrack 1,100m race.
That run topped Dutrow up further as he came out four weeks later to score an emphatic victory over the same course and distance.
After being well up third, jockey John Powell brought his mount up with great acceleration to beat the $9 favourite Sattar by two-and-a-half lengths.
That was not all. His time of 1min 04.80sec was just 0.59sec outside the new record set by Pole Paradise in Race 7 last night. The previous record of 1:04.27 was jointly held by Easy Man (2013) and Good News (earlier this year).
Dutrow has further thrived under Baertschiger's tutelage. His gallop on Wednesday morning was a winning one.
Furthermore, with 56kg, he will carry 1.5kg less than his last start. Sieving through the field, there is also not much opposition to worry Dutrow.
Fellow last-start winner Silkino may perhaps give him a run for the money.
The David Hill-trained four-year-old is maintaining form but he won his last race in 1min 05.36sec over the same Poly 1,100m trip but he is picking up 2kg to 53.5kg.
On that basis, I think he can only play second fiddle to Dutrow at best.
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