Walker hopes for a good run from Major Tom, Latest Racing News - The New Paper
Racing

Walker hopes for a good run from Major Tom

Three-year-old set to take on older horses over 1,400m tomorrow

Given the one-month gap between MAJOR TOM's (left, No 4) last-start win and his next target, the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic, trainer Mark Walker has decided to run the promising three-year-old tomorrow.

Walker had already made it clear the two-time winner would skip the first Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint over 1,200m run two weeks after his last win in a Novice race over 1,400m on March 12.

He felt the six furlongs was too quick and sharp for the son of Darci Brahma, preferring to wait until the second Leg over 1,400m on April 14 comes around.

But Walker was also loath to throw the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable-owned galloper in at the deep end without a lead-up run.

So, tomorrow's Class 4 Division 2 race over 1,400m slotted in perfectly.

"There was a month between runs and as he is a gross type of horse, I thought it would be too long," said Singapore's current leading trainer.

"This race is just what he needed. "He'll carry a big weight (58.5kg), but as I said, he's a big strong horse and that should not pose a problem. He's probably improved from the experience of racing, but he's only lightly raced and it's always hard for a three-year-old to run against older horses."

Walker currently leads the Singapore trainer's premiership on 25 winners, four clear of reigning champion Alwin Tan.