By Sharon Zhang, STC
Trainer Ricardo Le Grange expressed disappointment at the outside draw for sprinter-miler Rocket Star but still expects a good run from him in the lead-up towards his Group 1 Kranji Mile target.
After recovering from his bout of bleeding attack, the talented five-year-old son of Star Witness ran a solid first-up third in a Class 2 race last month. Inside the concluding stages, he couldn’t quite match strides with the unbeaten Lim’s Kosciuszko, whom he will likely run into again in the first feature race of the season on May 21.
The Paolo Mendoza-owned Rocket Star has kept improving, but drawing the outermost barrier (13, down to 12 after the scratching of Emergency Acceptor Entertainer) in Saturday’s $100,000 Class 1 race over the 1200m has been a bitter pill to swallow.
“What more can I say? I’m disappointed with the outside barrier, but the draw is the draw,” lamented the South African handler.
“He has improved nicely from his first-up run. I’ll leave it to (jockey) Manoel (Nunes), he is the pilot, and he knows what he is doing.
“He will need a bit of luck from that draw but bearing in mind that his main objective is the Kranji Mile, this run will bring him on.
“He had an easy trial last Tuesday (fourth behind Kharisma, a likely favourite in Saturday’s highlight race) because he has come on nicely from his first-up run, and his body weight is good, so he doesn’t need a hard trial.
“He galloped on Monday and I think he can run well. Still, I respect the draw and the field. It is a strong field.”
Rocket Star will face his Kranji Mile nemesis Minister (he ran third behind the Donna Logan-trained galloper in last year’s renewal), top-class sprinter Kharisma, Mr Malek, Grand Koonta, Sacred Croix and other highly-rated opponents in the race.
The luck of the draw would probably not matter as much to Le Grange’s Pennywise, who is stepping up to the 2000m for the first time in the $70,000 Class 3 race on turf this weekend.
Rated at 78 points, the 2019 Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1600m) winner is currently the third highest-rated horse in Le Grange’s care after Katak (102) and Rocket Star (97). He last ran fourth in a Class 3 race over the mile two weeks ago.
However, the handicaps have pushed Le Grange towards new territories for South African owner Bernard Kantor’s gelding.
“I have been toying with the idea of trying out something different with him,” said the former assistant-trainer to ex-Kranji trainer Patrick Shaw.
“We’re basically stuck in a place with him on the handicaps now where it’s a bit tough for him.
“So, I thought we’d have to think out of the box. Try him over a different distance, ride him differently and see if we can get something out of him. I removed his head gears (visors) too.”
Le Grange believes that the six-year-old Argentinian son of Pure Prize (same sire as the late multiple Group race winner Quechua, who took out the Longines Singapore Gold Cup over 2200m in 2014), who has scored all his eight wins on the Polytrack (1000-1600m) thus far will be up to the task this time. Some rain could help, too.
“He galloped on Tuesday and I’m very happy with him,” said Le Grange.
“He’s out of a very quick mare (Loura Gelada by sire Orpen), and the furthest she has gone up to is the 1800m, but we think he can run the trip.
“I’m not worried about the turf, but I would love a bit of rain for him.”
One newcomer that caught Kranji’s attention with a fighting win on debut in January was the son of American Triple Crown winner (2015) American Pharoah, War Commander.
The three-year-old chestnut gelding became American Pharoah’s first progeny to win in Singapore when he pipped the Jason Ong-trained Blazing Kid by a nose in an Open Maiden race over the 1200m on the turf in January.
He ran a fading fifth to Alqantur when stepped up by a furlong in a Novice race last month, but will line up in a $50,000 Class 4 race over the same trip and surface this Saturday.
Le Grange is confident about War Commander’s chances third time on the turf.
“We had to use him up from the wide barrier (10) last time,” said Le Grange.
“I think a mile for him on the Polytrack is a bit too far at this stage, and there’s no 1400m race on the Polytrack.
“He will be effective both on the turf and on the Polytrack. However, I feel that this opportunity is a reason for him to run on the turf again.
“He’s drawn a good gate (5) and he will run a very good race. He’s in a great spot.”
Pennywise will be ridden by jockey Shafiq Rizuan while War Commander will have Nunes in the saddle.
