Sun Ops is shining even brighter
Trainer Koh's charge sparkles on the training track
Trainer Desmond Koh will tell you that Sun Ops is a really good horse to have in the yard - and he won't be bragging.
His four-year-old has been pure gold since arriving last August and a win on Sunday will shoot him right up in the popularity polls.
Owned by Sun Bloodstock Racing, which has been having a good run in the 2021 season, Sun Ops was the star on the training track yesterday morning.
Ridden by Oscar Chavez, who on Saturday partnered Koh's Wawasan to a thrilling win, Sun Ops was in a serious galloping mood when running 600m in a sizzling 34.3sec.
The son of I Am Invincible gave stablemate Sun Rectitude a couple of lengths head-start before reeling him in over the short sprint.
Sun Rectitude will see action in the Class 4 Division 2 sprint over 1,200m on the Polytrack.
As for Sun Ops, well, he certainly knows all there is to know about racing.
He arrived from Australia with two wins. Both were 900m jump-and-run races at Newcastle.
He kept up the good record by winning on debut at Kranji. That was in February and he did it on the back of two trials which he won with plenty of authority.
Rested throughout March, Koh freshened him up with another trial which he won like as if it was his due. Then off to the races he went.
By then, he had been promoted to Class 3 - but that made little difference.
Sun Ops took the promotion in his stride and led from pillar to post to beat the very-talented Tuesday by almost two lengths.
The race was over the 1,100m on the Polytrack. He covers the same trip on Sunday. Although asked to carry 3kg more than the 55kg he shouldered when winning his last start, he should make light of the burden.
Another one who is headed for the big time is Godfathers.
He had the services of Danny Beasley when running 600m in 38.1sec. They had Maceo for company.
An expensive import - Godfathers went under the hammer for $200,000 as a yearling when snared by the Aramco Stable - he had seven starts in Australia and finished second on two occasions in New South Wales.
He arrived in late November. After two trials, in which he ran unplaced, trainer Shane Baertschiger sent him to the races.
Racegoers who had monitored his trackwork leading into that debut made him the $12 favourite but got burnt when Godfathers was beaten by a narrow margin.
But they kept the faith and when he next showed up - which was in mid-April - they emptied their pockets to wager on him.
He went off as the $7 pick - and he didn't disappoint. Ridden by apprentice jockey Hakim Kamaruddin, Godfathers came from his spot off midfield to swamp the leaders for a really good win.
The fine-looking chestnut took the 1,200m race by almost a length.
He will be a marked man on Sunday and it will be a treat watching him do battle with that other young upstart, Mystery Power.
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