Kharisma looks ahead

It was a double promotion - from his last-start Class 3 win to Kranji Stakes A - and he has never won on the turf.

But it was worth a gamble. Five-time Polytrack winner Kharisma was in top form and had a luxurious 50.5kg handicap against a not-too-strong field.

The surprising part was the smart money came by the lorry loads in the last minute to make the Stephen Gray-trained up-and-coming four-year-old the $17 favourite.

Well, the Indonesian-owned galloper not only duly obliged with an all-the-way victory by 13/4 lengths, but he also ran the 1,200m trip on the long course in a swift 1min 08.98sec. It was only 0.83sec outside the record held by Spalato since 2014.

This has left Gray in a conundrum: Where to from here?

"I'm really not sure where he goes from here. But these are unusual times and we have to resort to unusual measures," said the New Zealander.

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"A race like the Lion City Cup is coming up, but it's at weight-for-age. There are also the four-year-old races coming up, so we'll have to discuss with the owner, even if, usually, I would rather set him for handicap races."

The Group 1 Lion City Cup over 1,200m will be the year's first feature race on April 24.

Gray knew the turf was not a problem for his in-form charge and had to take the chance.

"He has not raced a lot on grass, because there were more Polytrack races then. There was no choice, but he ran good races on grass before, so I wasn't worried about that," he said.

"He's a happy horse, he's a winner. His syce Ragu looks after him very well - that's why he's doing so well. He wants to run.

"He's a genuine handicap horse and, with the light weight, I had a throw of the dice, as I thought the field was not as strong. He did very well, he also ran time."

Kharisma was ridden by former two-time top apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen, replacing Troy See, who could not make the weight. See, said Gray, will get the ride again, unless it is another low weight.