Ablest Ascend in good order on training track
Golden Horseshoe candidates work with gusto on the training track
When Ablest Ascend won on Oct 3, his name went into numerous notebooks as a horse to follow.
There were good reasons for that. He had won with plenty of clout and his time of 1min 10.83sec for 1,200m was not bad for a youngster still finding his feet.
Well, he meets a field of precocious two and three-year-olds in Saturday's Golden Horseshoe race and there is every likelihood he could jump as the punters' top fancy.
Indeed, his claim to fame was given a solid boost yesterday morning when he was sent out for a spot of fast work on the training track.
With Louis-Philippe Beuzelin doing the steering, he covered the 600m in 38.8sec.
It was a fine piece of work from a youngster who is surely going places at Kranji.
Back to that win in early October, Beuzelin was in the saddle and they stole the early lead, only to surrender it when the field was midway down the home stretch.
But, like a good horse, he came on again, found the front and cruised to a half-length win over Lim's Dreamwalker.
His doggedness did not go unnoticed. Punters sent him off as the $23 second pick in his second start on Oct 31. They got burnt as Ablest Ascend was narrowly beaten by Kiwi Kid.
From Michael Clements' yard, Ablest Ascend is a work in progress.
Owned by Tivic Stable, he is going to win more races and a bold showing in the $125,000 Golden Horseshoe could be his launch pad into the big time.
Rocket Ryane is another who deserves utmost respect in Saturday's feature.
He had Vlad Duric in the saddle yesterday when running 600m in 37.1sec.
He has improved since his debut when sixth to Lim's Straight.
To many, it was a letdown of sorts, as Rocket Ryane had looked good in his trials leading into that race.
Backed down to $16 - although some of the money plonked on him could have been the "Duric factor" - the "Rocket" sputtered.
Indeed, he was never in it.
A $125,000 purchase at the sales, the three-year-old from Ricardo Le Grange's yard is better than that and it would not surprise to see him run a big race on Saturday.
Same too, Relentless. Until Golden One went on to win on Saturday, he was trainer Tim Fitzsimmons' third winner for the season.
Relentless had Marc Lerner in the plate for his workout and he would have found some admirers when he ran 600m in 37.7sec.
If you disregard his last start, when he finished eighth in that race won by Sure Will Do, you have to agree he did pretty well when winning in October.
That day, he lolled about near the rear - as if in a coma - until roused up with 200m to travel.
Putting on wings, he flew home to beat The Archer by a good margin.
That race was on the Polytrack. The question is, can he handle the turf?
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