Back Morales and Curvature
Singapore best bets for Friday and Sunday
Class 5 horses are not reliable as the top pick of the day but, in an open day of racing, Morales looks the best in the card of eight at Kranji tonight.
But, on Sunday, the picture is clearer, with Class 2 runner Curvature standing out in the 11-race programme.
Trained by Steven Burridge, Morales is back in form.
Dropping to Class 5 after many unsuccessful runs in Class 4 and Kranji Stakes C, the six-year-old bounced back with an eye-catching third to Muscular Captain over 1,400m.
He came flying home under a forceful ride by jockey Michael Rodd to finish only two short heads behind the winner.
With a more favourable draw in gate 2 tonight, compared to gate 11 last start, Morales should score his fifth success in 44 starts. The chestnut Australian-bred gelding looked much trimmer when he galloped on Wednesday morning.
The Lee Freedman-trained Curvature has been a revelation since landing in Singapore. The four-year-old has yet to finish out of the top three from six starts at Kranji, winning three times with his speed.
His last-start second was an enormous effort.
Despite jumping from barrier 12, he nearly pulled it off in the $500,000 Group 2 Stewards' Cup over 1,400m. The horse that beat him - and only by a neck - was none other than Elite Invincible, who went on to capture the second leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge - the $1 million Group 1 Giovanni Racing Charity Bowl over 1,600m - and is now the hot favourite in the final leg, the $1.15 million Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby over 1,800m.
Mind you, Curvature is meeting only Class 2 rivals on Sunday and is hard to run down.
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