Kiwi Kid looking good for a hat-trick
Trainer Ong's runner turns on the charm in his morning workout
Trainer Jason Ong, who took the opening race on Gold Cup Day, has entered a team of eight for Saturday's 11-race programme. His line-up includes two who could boost his standings in the training ranks.
They are Loving Babe and Kiwi Kid.
The pair were on the training track yesterday morning and they worked together like a dynamic duo.
Kiwi Kid had Joseph See in the saddle and they started a few lengths behind Loving Babe - the mount of N Zyrul.
As it turned out, Kiwi Kid was not disadvantaged by the "handicap" he had given his stablemate.
Indeed, he quickly made up the deficit and, at the end of that 600m sprint, Kiwi Kid had caught up with Loving Babe.
Kiwi Kid clocked 36.8sec. Loving Babe registered 37.4sec.
Nothing flashy, but it showed us that both Ong's runners could be followed with some degree of confidence.
Kiwi Kid has been a good ambassador for the Uruguayan breeding industry.
A winner of one race over 1,100m, three seconds and two thirds in Uruguay, the now-five-year-old has had six starts at Kranji and his last two outings have been winning ones.
The last time he greeted the judge was on Oct 31. It was a fighting win over the 1,100m and it gave jockey Mark Ewe a well-deserved change of luck.
The win came three weeks after he had opened his Kranji account.
That day, on Oct 10, Kiwi Kid made every post a winning one, beating Winning Legend by half a length over the same 1,100m trip.
It appears to be his pet trip and that is what he has to tackle on Saturday. Three off the bat would not surprise.
As for Loving Babe, he is in Class 5 - but he races like he believes he is with the big boys. He fights all the way.
Take away that last run when he finished eighth to Hotshots Slam. It was out of character and Ong could offer no explanation for the below-par effort.
Before that, Loving Babe turned in three good showings - winning over 1,200m on Sept 19 and following it up with two seconds on Oct 10 and Oct 25.
Ong does seem to have Loving Babe ticking over nicely.
Come Saturday, he should give his Class 5 rivals something to worry about over 1,200m.
Another one to keep an eye on is Lim's Dreamwalker.
He had Gold Cup-winning jockey Simon Kok in the plate when running the 600m in 38.2sec.
Still a three-year-old, Lim's Dreamwalker was backed down to $11 favouritism at his last start on Oct 25. But it all went wrong for him.
He veered outwards abruptly at the 200m mark and dislodged his rider. He is expected to bounce back and a win is not just a dream.
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