Lim's Cruiser in striking form
Feature race candidates take it easy with winding-up work on the training track
Most times you can gather some nuggets of horsey wisdom just by eavesdropping on what the Ah Peks in the kopitiams are saying when they huddle over their thick black coffee and half-boiled eggs.
Like yesterday morning. They seemed in full agreement when it came to picking the winners of tomorrow's two feature races - the Chairman's Trophy and the Merlion Trophy.
While we scribes sweat and get silly over form guides and archives, these old chaps had, yesterday, decided that it would be Clarton Super in the Chairman's and Lim's Cruiser in the Merlion.
No fuss, no bother.
Just horse sense honed by years leaning over the railings at the mounting yard and from mornings spent in the most healthy surroundings in Singapore - the vast expanse of the racecourse.
Anyway, there was nothing frivolous about their "selections".
We had told you in yesterday's TNP that Clarton Super was at the top of his game.
That, after the multiple winner had turned in a winning workout - running the 600m in 35.2sec.
And yesterday morning, the final touches went onto the canvas and, it must be said, Clarton Super looked like a true work of art when he trotted in the exercise ring.
As for Lim's Cruiser?
What's not to like about the uncles' choice?
It was around this time last year that he lifted the Lion City Cup. If his aim, on that April day, was to dominate, well, to an amazing extent, he did.
He didn't just cruise in. He crushed the opposition, winning by two lengths.
Then, he went into hibernation and in his six subsequent runs over distances of 1,400m and beyond, the best he could show was a third in the Raffles Cup (1,800m) in October.
That was his last race but in two trials - one in March and the other just a fortnight ago - he reminded us just how good he really is.
On March 29, he blitzed his rivals over the 1,000m in 60.89sec and on April 12 he put six-and-a-half lengths between himself and the next best when winning in 60.97sec.
And yesterday morning, in his final prep for the big race, his trainer, Stephen Gray, decided that a spot of cantering was all that Lim's Cruiser needed to top him up. Yes, the old uncles may be on to something.
Lim's Cruiser and Clarton Super just might be the two big winners at tomorrow's races.
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