Watch trainer David Kok's pair
Yulong Xiongyin and David's Star impress at Tuesday's Kranji barrier trials
Both showed abundant speed and trialled in similar eye-catching fashion at Kranji on Tuesday morning, making them the horses to follow.
Trainer David Kok's newcomer Yulong Xiongyin held a huge lead at the bend and straightened wide in the fourth of fifth trial before winning.
Stablemate David's Star did the same in the fifth and final trial of the morning, winning by a wider margin but in a slightly slower time.
Back to Yulong Xiongyin.
The four-year-old chestnut Irish-bred looked eager to go but was restrained by jockey Benny Woodworth.
Despite that, the gelding opened up a lead of at least six lengths from Class 1 performer Nova Swiss and straightened up in the middle of the track, covering extra ground.
Nova Swiss was ridden out by French jockey Olivier Placais to catch up and eyeball him in the final 200m. Nova Swiss then appeared to gain a slight advantage and was expected to clear away for an easy win on class.
But Yulong Xiongyin rallied back without Woodworth doing anything to win by a head.
He clocked 1min 01.41sec for the Polytrack 1,000m.
If Woodworth had not held him up, it was evident that Yulong Xiongyin would win by a wider margin in a faster time.
The newcomer has indeed been showing that he has the ability to win first-up. His three other trials were also impressive.
He finished second in his first trial on Nov 16 and won his second on Nov 28, winning by two-and-a-half lengths in a swift time, 59.62sec.
He also finished second in his third trial on March 1 and now this superb trial on Tuesday.
On his trial efforts, Yulong Xiongyin should be hard to catch first time out, but it's better and safer to watch his betting for stable confidence.
David's Star, too, opened up a six-length lead and straightened wide, but not as wide as Yulong Xiongyin.
He was a lonely runner in the straight and cantered home by three-and-a-half lengths in 1min 01.75sec with jockey Ryan Curatolo astride.
David's Star won his trial on Feb 6 and was strongly supported in his debut on Feb 23.
He raced on the pace before petering out to finish seventh of 12 runners in a Restricted Maiden event over the flying Poly 1,000m.
It was back to the drawing board for the three-year-old bay/brown American-bred gelding and he now looks set to recoup the losses with his splendid trial win on Tuesday.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
