Hear the Tiger Roar
Singapore Gold Cup wannabe leads Clements' trio in Sunday's $70,000 race
At a glance, there is no denying that champion trainer Michael Clements has a monopoly in Sunday's $70,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1,600m on turf.
He has the top three chances in the field of 12 and there is a strong possibility that Tiger Roar, Starlight and Prosperous Return can finish 1-2-3 for him.
The 1,600m trip suits Tiger Roar best among his trio.
One of Kranji's brightest rising stars and a Singapore Gold Cup wannabe, the Falcon Racing No. 7 Stable-owned five-time winner (from 1,200m to 1,800m) is right on course for his quest in the $1 million Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup over 2,000m in November.
His last two runs were super impressive.
In his penultimate start on June 27, the 1,200m trip for the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint was deemed too short for him.
But his class brought him home. He came from last to beat Prosperous Return in a respectable 1min 09.50sec. Starlight was fifth.
He looked a shoo-in for the 1,400m Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic three weeks later but was denied the major double by Starlight.
Again, he came with his customary strong run from last but Starlight showed vast improvement and a good ride from jockey Shafrizal Saleh to hang on courageously by a head.
Prosperous Return faded to fourth after looking a strong possibility.
With Sunday's race over 1,600m, Tiger Roar should be very hard to beat.
Champion apprentice jockey Simon Kok has a great association with the four-year-old Australian-bred gelding.
The combination has yielded three wins and two seconds from just five starts.
Although this will be his first attempt over 1,600m, Starlight should handle it with further improvement.
Ditto Prosperous Return, a hat-trick winner (once 1,200m and twice 1,400m) from six starts.
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