The Capital all set to go one better
Friday Singapore best bet
The Capital is back in form and is set to go one better in Race 7 at Kranji tonight.
One who seldom runs a bad race, the six-year-old Irish-bred showed in his last start he was due to win again and he put the finishing touches to tonight's race with a top gallop on Tuesday morning.
Taken out by race-jockey Michael Rodd, the Lee Freedman-trained bay gelding disposed of 600m in a smart time and pulled up without raising a sweat. He was all muscled up.
Last time out on Jan 14, The Capital came from second-last to beat all but Elite Invincible over the 1,400m on a yielding track, going down by a length.
He did himself no favour in the race by over-racing, which normally saps a lot of energy from a horse.
The Mark Walker-trained Elite Invincible went on to score convincingly again last Sunday with an all-the-way victory and this stands The Capital in good stead.
Furthermore, Elite Invincible is a classy import with July's Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby in mind.
So, it was no disgrace losing to a horse with lofty dreams.
A one-time winner over 2,091m from five starts in the United Kingdom, The Capital posted a two-and-a-quarter-length victory over the Polytrack 1,200m at Kranji on March 5.
He failed to get another winning result but he has always been game and finished close behind the winners.
On his last-start second to Elite Invincible, The Capital should greet the judge again tonight in a Class 3 race over 1,600m on turf.
The only downside is his wide barrier - gate 11 from a field of 11.
But The Capital is in good hands.
Dester Singapore Gold Cup-winning Rodd, who is leading the jockeys' premiership table this season with 10 winners, surely knows how to get the best out of his in-form mount.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now