Talented trio in top form
Sun Marshal, Fame Star and Winning Hobby sparkle on the training track
They're from different barns but the three of them share one thing in common.
Collectively, they have been involved in 17 races and they have yet to finish outside the board - that is, further than fourth.
All three - Sun Marshal, Fame Star and Winning Hobby - know what it is like to win races.
They've won a total of four races and, the way their careers are shaping, they are just getting started.
Ahead of their assignments on Saturday, all three were on the training track yesterday morning and you couldn't find a thing wrong with them.
Winning Hobby was the swiftest of the lot. Prepared for the races by CT Kuah, he ran the 600m in 36.5sec.
Sun Marshal, from Lee Freedman's barn, went over the same distance in 38.9sec. He will see action in Race 7, a 1,400m event for Class 3 Division 2 horses.
Then there was Fame Star. Trained by John O'Hara for Toast Trusts And Kadima Stable, he covered the 600m in 39.8sec.
He is down to face Sun Marshal in that same 1,400m race and, as both horses haven't yet crossed paths, it will be interesting to see the outcome.
In his last start, Fame Star was momentarily shouted the winner when he hit the front close home. But the cheers from the stands were for a different horse, the $14 favourite Richebourg. He came like a bullet train to easily run down the leader.
As for Sun Marshal, his last run was a winning one.
It was his fourth race start and he had opened his Kranji account. The race was over the trying distance of 2,000m and Sun Marshal led from go to whoa.
On Saturday, he drops back in trip to the 1,400m. How will he run his race?
Well, he could attempt to get to the front and make his rivals do the chasing or, with the stamina we know he possesses, he could sit off the pace and power home.
Whatever the tactics, he will give you a run for your money.
Then there's Winning Hobby. He will see action in the last race - and he's not just a hobby but a winning hope.
He finished third at his last start but it's a race worth talking about over and over again. Not so much about Winning Hobby - but because of the way his jockey Ben Thompson nearly turned trouble into triumph.
That day, Thompson didn't just earn his riding fee. He should have been given a bonus for the way he averted disaster to finish in the money.
Winning Hobby's race should have ended metres after the start. He had jumped away awkwardly and made contact with the side of the chute. Thompson lost his balance but stayed in the saddle.
Already at a disadvantage and racing wide, Thompson had - at the 1,000m mark - to readjust his irons. He still managed to finish third.
He meets a talented field on Saturday but, if he gets a trouble-free run, he could nick it - and it would be a deserving win.
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