Hidden Promise can make it a race-to-race double
Mark Walker's runners light up the morning at Kranji
Champion trainer Mark Walker, who drew a blank at the last meeting after getting his 2018 season off the ground with a double on New Year's Day, could again be a presence in the winner's circle on Sunday.
On a relatively quiet morning by Kranji's standards, a handful of his horses saved the day and their inspired workouts make them winning hopes on Sunday.
Chief among them was Hidden Promise. The second of Walker's double on Jan 1, he looked to be holding that winning form when clocking 36.7sec for that 600m sprint.
Craig Grylls was on the reins and they had Colorado Prince (Vlad Duric) for company.
A five-year-old with 15 starts under his girth, Hidden Promise has been a quiet achiever in Walker's barn.
Take that win on Jan 1. Few expected him to be so good and they sent him off as a $97 chance.
Well, there was nothing chancey about the way he won that race.
Kept on the paint to save ground in that 1,600m race, he was third when they straightened.
Patiently nudged along, Grylls found a gap 150m out, pointed his mount at it and, it was all over.
Hidden Promise darted through the opening to win by a good half length.
That was his fourth win and he's not done yet. So have a bet on him in Race 7 on Sunday and, for the heck of it, you might want to throw in Lim's Regards for a Walker quinella.
Lim's Regard was another of Walker's runners who kept yesterday morning interesting. Ridden by Glen Boss, he raced over the 600m in 36.5sec.
The chestnut pulled off a double in just his second and third starts in July last year but his subsequent runs - and there were four more to come - could not yield another victory.
Indeed, his last start fifth was in the race won by stablemate Hidden Promise.
Still, he looks to be a work in progress and, like mentioned earlier, he could help make it a Walker one-two.
Do not be too hasty in jumping off Elite Invincible. Sure, he was a disappointment at his last start when plodding home seventh after being sent off as the race favourite.
But he could redeem himself and his work on the training track gave us that impression.
Ridden by Duric, the Irish-bred was all go when clocking 36.5sec for the 600m.
A winner on debut when he accounted for the likes of Montaigne and Nova Storm, Elite Invincible was expected to easily make it a race-to-race double.
But again, punters learnt the hard way that, in racing, nothing comes easy.
The acceleration we saw when he won on Dec 1 was missing. His jockey R Zawari later informed the Stewards that, from the 500m mark, Elite Invincible did not respond to his urgings.
The five-year-old deserves another chance. So stick with him in Race 6.
If he brings his track form to the races, he could be a formidable foe to the opposition.
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