Sierra Conqueror still Nimble
Both last-start winners are Kranji top bets for today and Sunday respectively
The way they strutted their stuff on the training track, Sierra Conqueror and Nimble should continue their winning ways at Kranji tonight and on Sunday.
Sierra Conqueror has had two barrier trials since his impressive winning debut on Dec 7 and both were with merit although he did not win. His trial last week, in particular, was simply beautiful.
Yes, he finished only fourth behind Be Bee, who swooped home to win in a fairly smart time of 1min 00.91sec for the Polytrack 1,000m, but it was evident Sierra Conqueror could have won if his rider had not applied the brakes.
The KY Young-trained four-year-old Australian-bred was so full of running but was kept under wraps to finish just over a length behind.
Back home, the bay gelding was ever so honest and consistent. From just three starts, he won twice - over 1,000m and 1,110m - and was second once. He also proved himself to be an all-weather galloper, having won on good and soft going.
His form filtered to Singapore with his all-the-way success over the Poly 1,000m in a Class 3 Div 2 event. His winning time was pretty good, 59.29sec.
Now that he has improved further, Sierra Conqueror looks set to rule again in a similar Class 3 affair over the same trip in Race 6 tonight.
The Leticia Dragon-trained Nimble also ran well in his trial last week when a close third to Elite Power. The four-year-old Australian-bred was not hard pressed by his last-start winning rider, Michael Rodd.
The Australian took the brown gelding out for a spin on Tuesday and it was a good piece of work, one that suggested the horse is as nimble as ever.
John Powell was the winning jockey when Nimble made a dream debut on Oct 26 last year in a Class 4 Premier event over the Poly 1,000m. His mount was well up and finished strongly to beat Ironside by 3/4 lengths in a quick 58.88sec.
Ironside went on to win his next start, so did Nimble. The dual-winning form was certainly strong.
Although going second-up over the Poly 1,200m was not an easy task, Nimble scored again in spectacular fashion. Mind you, he was held up at one stage, but he let down beautifully to beat Yabadabadoo by 11/2 lengths in another noteworthy 1:12.04.
With his improvement, a hat-trick is certainly on the card.
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