Support Drone and Al Green
Singapore best bets for Friday and Sunday
Smart debut winner Drone has been given a glowing testimonial by his trainer, Michael Clements, that he is one of the "better two-year-olds" he's ever had under his care.
As such, it should pay to back the Australian-bred chestnut colt with a fair bit of confidence in Race 4 at Kranji tonight in the Open event for juveniles.
First-up on April 27, Drone made every post a winning one in a Restricted Maiden race, beating Monte Nerone by half a length in 1min 00.14sec over the Polytrack 1,000m.
It was a super performance. He flew the gates and quickly crossed in from his widest draw (gate 7) and jockey Glen Boss then took hold of his mount, who clocked a smart first sectional of 24.76sec for the first 400m.
Drone quickened when asked at the top of the straight, kicking well clear, and Boss kept urging his mount only under hands and heels riding to the winning post.
Clements has been reported as saying that Drone has "strengthened up since his last run" and his gallops have been very pleasing.
"I would say he is one of the better two-year-olds I've had. He is quite a scopey horse and I think he will go through as a three-year-old," he said.
This is certainly a good endorsement for the horse, who is one of only two raced runners in tonight's field of 12 two-year-olds.
The other, Giant Killing, ran third behind Drone and was beaten by three-quarter lengths.
The rest of the field are newcomers and some of them are trial winners who may pose threats, but the way Drone disposed of his rivals without the persuader first-up and his improvement make him hard to beat.
Coincidentally, Boss will also be aboard my Sunday best, Al Green in Race 5.
This Stephen Gray-trained three-time winner himself has received an endorsement of a different kind.
The horse that beat him last time out, Distinctive Darci went on to beat a strong field in the $500,000 Group 2 Merlion Trophy over the Poly 1,200m on April 27.
This augurs well for Al Green's chances against just a Kranji Stakes B field. If he gets an uncontested lead, he can make it all the way.
Like Drone, Al Green has also been catching the eye in his morning gallops and, with a handy draw in gate 4, he should be hard to topple.
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