Freedman has eyes on the prize
Mr Spielberg and Circuit Land win their respective trials in preparation for Sunday
Like his namesake, the famed cinema director who picked up his last Academy Award way back in 1999, it has been - by racing standards - an age since Mr Spielberg won a race.
Indeed, and if anyone's counting, his last victory was more than a year and a half ago.
That said, Mr Spielberg seemed to be enjoying himself when winning his trial at Kranji on Tuesday morning and it spoke volumes for his abilty to pick up another win.
Ridden by the veteran Azhar Ismail, Mr Spielberg seemed to take his time to leave the chute and he was with the tailenders when they made that first turn on the far side.
There he stayed, unperturbed, as Bandido and Fuego matched strides over that sweeping bend.
If you had your binoculars trained on Mr Spielberg, you would have noticed that he was getting serious when they passed the 300m mark.
Still racing widest of the lot, Azhar kept him interested and, as we were to discover, Mr Spielberg was saving his heroics for later. Two hundred metres from home and with the early leaders seemingly running on empty, Mr Spielberg fashioned a run.
Taking no prisoners, he quickly swept to the lead and went on to beat Bandido by three parts of a length.
His winning time of 64.03sec was blushingly slow but, all the same, it was a good prep for Sunday's feature - the Committee's Prize - which is over the 1,600m distance Mr Spielberg is all too familiar with.
Indeed, his last two wins were over the trip and his last-start second to Elite Invincible on Feb 4 was also over the mile.
That day, the six-year-old was his usual leisurely self at the start of that Kranji Stakes A race. Parked near last by Craig Grylls, he only began his run when they straightened.
But just when he looked to have his motor running, he was disappointed for a run. Still, he came on.
But by then the $14 favourite Elite Invincible had flown the coop and all that Mr Spielberg could do was pick up that runner-up cheque.
In the weeks since that showing, his trainer Lee Freedman would have worked his magic and, come Sunday, we should see Mr Spielberg looking sleek and tight and ready to go.
Freedman had another "winner" at Tuesday's trials - Circuit Land.
The seven-year-old "new registration" was always in touch with the lead and swept to the front close home to win in 62.09sec.
Formerly from Hong Kong where he raced with some of the best, including a fourth behind Contentment in the 2017 Hong Kong Jockey Club Mile, the American-bred Circuit Land - though getting long in the tooth - is still a galloper to contend with.
And since Freedman has tossed him into the mix on Sunday, he could give Kranji's stalwarts a run for the money.
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