Situation primed for Kranji debut

On a quiet morning at Kranji, which has always been the case when there's no racing on Sunday, three entries from Ricardo Le Grange's yard gave clockers and early risers something to watch and ponder.

ELUSIVE EMPEROR was one of them. CHOSEN HARVEST was another and newcomer SITUATION, having his first run in Race 9, made up the "trifecta" workforce.

Interesting among them was Situation, a three-year-old by War Front. With Barend Vorster astride, he clocked a leisurely 44.3sec for his 600m hit-out.

It was a nice piece of work from this forward-looking runner trained by Le Grange and owned by the Falcon Racing No. 7 Stable.

Although yet to make his Kranji racing debut, Situation is well known to trackwatchers and followers of the trials.

Indeed, in the last six weeks he had been to the trials four times, winning two of them. What's worth noting is that he showed fighting qualities in both those victories.

On March 23, he beat Be Bold by a nose. Sporting blinkers, he led after 100m and kept grinding on when challenged by Be Bold and Life Is Gamble. He clocked 60.96sec for the 1,000m.

Three weeks later we saw him feature in another "close one". That day he beat Cadet by half a length while clocking 60.20sec. Vorster was astride.

As for Elusive Emperor, he did a round of pacework and was noticeably picking up speed in the straight.

A six-time winner with almost $300,000 in the bank, the five-year-old takes on a talented field in Race 7 - but still looks like one of the main hopes.

Chosen Harvest was also sent out by Le Grange for a spot of pacework and, at the top end of Class 5, he is worth a thought in tomorrow's third event.