Lim's Kosciuszko to K.O. them
Whichever way Lion City Cup field is sliced, trainer Meagher's champion is the winner
Unless you believe every underdog has his day and every champion can have an off-day, it will take a very brave man to tip against Lim's Kosciuszko winning a third consecutive Lion City Cup on July 28.
Even if you are not one of those "he's wearing my wife's favourite colours" punters, and still have the audacity to take on Singapore's undisputed champion (two Singapore Horse of the Year gongs to show for it), you will need to back your point with facts and figures.
With only seven runners in this last renewal of Singapore's premier sprint, the number crunching is not as taxing.
But spare yourself the trouble of whipping out those calculators and reams of form guides.
The $300,000 Group 1 Lion City Cup (1,200m) is a weight-for-age (WFA) race where the Daniel Meagher-trained Lim's Kosciuszko would have otherwise lumped the top impost and everybody else would have sat on the minimum weight of 50kg or thereabouts.
Ironically, equal weights render a race anything but a level-playing field when a superhorse of Lim's Kosciuszko's (120 points) calibre gets in.
If the Kermadec gelding's arch-rival Golden Monkey contests the Group 1 Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Oct 5, it might well be the only time the WFA stalwart would be called a "serious handicapper". Winner of the 2023 Singapore Derby, after Lim's Kosciuszko's triumph in 2022, the son of Star Turn did not quite make it to the same stratosphere.
Truth be told, he would have probably doubled his record of eight wins had he raced in a different era. He saw Lim's Kosciuszko's clean set of heels six times in as many match-ups, including his third and second in the 2022 and 2023 Lion City Cup respectively.
Trainer Tim Fitzsimmons and Jig Racing/Elvin Stable racing manager Josh McLoughlan keep turning up at their drawing boards, and should be commended for not walking away.
Following Golden Monkey's string of defeats since the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1,400m) in February, a last-start win in a Kranji Stakes A race (1,200m) was a confidence booster - even if it felt more like settling a score with runner-up Ghalib in the wake of that infamous walk of a race on June 16.
The son of I Am Invincible lost no friends in the rematch, especially over the long course. If anything, the Steven Burridge-trained seven-time winner reproduced the same effort, but had to go a notch quicker with someone else (Sky Eye) assuming the leading role.
Pound for pound, Golden Monkey may be a better horse but, back to the short course B, Ghalib may prove harder to shake off this time.
However, the debate is purely academic as they would most likely be battling for the minors.
They may even lose the runner-up spot to trainer Ricardo Le Grange's Ace Of Diamonds.
The 2024 season's 3YO ruler is back from a two-month freshen-up following his Singapore Guineas (1,600m) success on May 18.
The drop back to 1,200m is not ideal but, with Sky Eye and Pacific Vampire expected to go like the clappers, the son of Swiss Ace may wind up late for that "second best" to Lim's Kosciuszko sash.
manyan@sph.com.sg
Michael Lee