Novice race could be a blast

Come Sunday, racing fans will be glued to their TV screens for the running of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint.

Run over the 1,200m on grass, the dash for cash is a heart-stopping affair.

This year will be no exception. It's a sure thing.

However, there's another mighty interesting race on the undercard.

It's the Novice event. Run at set-weights over the same Three-Year-Old Sprint trip, it brings together youngsters with ambition.

And, as a sort of sneak preview to the race, which will be sent off at 3pm, we saw a bunch of the contenders being put through their paces on the training track yesterday morning.

They all worked with gusto and it was hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

However, if we were to pick a trio who really stood out, the honours - and not in any particular order - would go to Aftermath, Elliot Ness and Whiz Fizz.

Aftermath and Elliot Ness are from the Mark Walker camp, while Whiz Fizz is prepared by James Peters.

At 61 points, Aftermath is the highest-rated runner in the field. He has yet to open his Kranji account but he is not going to stay winless for much longer.

He had Vlad Duric in the saddle when running 600m in 36.4sec yesterday.

An expensive purchase as a yearling, Aftermath had a bunch of trials - winning that last one in 59.96sec - before Walker sent him to the races.

Punters, being an astute lot, sent him off as the third pick in that 1,200m sprint and he finished in that spot.

Lim's Kosciuszko, a real talent with a huge future, took the race in a canter beating the Walker-trained Stenmark by two easy lengths.

Aftermath's subsequent runs weren't eye-catching but he's better than that and we could see him put on a show in the Novice.

As for Elliot Ness, he caught the eye in his hit-out, clocking 39.1sec, also with Duric doing the steering.

A handsome chestnut, he already knows his way to the winners' enclosure.

It was just two months ago that he posted his first win for the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable.

That day, with Duric on the reins, he made putty of his rivals, coasting in by almost four lengths over the 1,100m on the Polytrack.

He will have plenty of friends on Sunday and we know he can handle the turf as he finished a close second to Lim's Kosciuszko in March.

Then there's Whiz Fizz.

He had Marc Lerner doing the navigating when running 600m in 40.8sec.

It was a no-fuss sort of workout but indicative of a horse who is carrying plenty of condition.

Whiz Fizz was a debut winner in February, when taking out a Restricted Maiden race by two lengths. The win over the Poly 1,100m was all the more commendable as he had to race wide for most of the trip.

On 54 rating points, he is low in the numbers but, boy, can he raise a gallop.

We saw that just last week, when he won his trial in a smart 59.46sec. Coupled with yesterday's workout, he looks like he's ready to rumble.