Singapore Sunday best bet
Singapore Sunday best bet
The indication is very clear: Ancient Warrior is due for another win with his form back and the return to Class 4.
In his first start back to Class 4 after four unplaced runs in Class 3 last time out on Nov 19, the Mark Walker-trained five-year-old bounced back and nearly caused a mild upset.
Showing $77 for a win, the bay New Zealand-bred gelding led - contrary to his four runs in Class 3 in which he raced in the rear or in midfield - and was caught only close home by Athena in a 1,400m event.
He is back in a similar Class 4 affair over the similar trip but with a 1kg reprieve and a better draw -two other plusses.
Apprentice R Zawari has been retained for the task and his 2kg allowance will definitely come in handy.
Ancient Warrior's bounce- back to finish second is a good sign that the horse is coming back to form.
But what increases the confidence level is his improvement rate, which he demonstrated with his swift gallop on the right-handed Track 6 on Wednesday morning.
Paced by a stablemate, it looked like Ancient Warrior was having the usual morning stretch-out.
But, when the stopwatch was stopped, his time for the 600m covered simply makes you sit up and say "wow" - 33.3sec.
Zawari, who rode him in the gallop, didn't really whack the daylight out of his mount to clock such a sizzling time.
In fact, he was doing nothing, just sitting pretty. Despite that, his horse just cruised away from his stablemate and pulled up on his toes.
All in all, it was a gallop that would give you that extra confidence boost. If you had seen it, you would want to jump on the Ancient Warrior bandwagon.
If Ancient Warrior greets the judge - for the fourth time in 16 starts in Race 11 tomorrow- it will be a fitting finale for trainer Walker.
The Kiwi, who is assured of his second champion trainer's title with his unassailable lead, will end the year on a winning note, as tomorrow's Race 11 is the final race of the 2017 Singapore racing season.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
