By Larry Foley
Connections have every reason to be bullish when Leatherhead runs in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1600m on the Polytrack on Sunday.
The son of Helmet clearly enjoys the all-weather surface as he has recorded six wins on the Polytrack thus far.
While his most recent win – an anomaly of sorts – was over 1700m (April 9), all his other five victories at Kranji have all been over the mile.
The Australian-bred seven-year-old does come into this race off a poor run on the turf but he had excuses on that occasion (bad check at the 350m) and a couple of recent placings on the turf indicates that he is in good enough form back in his winning environment.
There was a slight hiccup to his preparation this week – with heavy rain putting a line through a scheduled barrier trial on Tuesday – but trainer Ricardo Le Grange was more than happy after his belated final workout on Wednesday.
“It wasn’t worth putting him out on Tuesday as it was pouring down,” said Le Grange.
“He had a jumpout yesterday with Great Command (who will make his Singapore debut in the $20,000 Maiden race over 1200m) and (jockey) Jake (Bayliss) – who has been working him for me – was very happy with the hit-out.
“The horse used to tie up badly but we sorted that out and he found a real liking to the Poly(track) so, while he is more than competitive on the turf at this level, his results on the Poly(track) speak for themselves.
“(Apprentice jockey) Yusoff (Fadzli) will claim on him (two kgs) on Sunday and from the good gate (four), we can take a sit behind Amore Amore – who I think looks the one to beat on form – and he should go very close.”
Le Grange was full of praise for the young rider who rode Senor Don to victory last Sunday.
“I have a lot of time for Yusoff,” he said of the Malaysian rider, whose claims dropped from three kilos to two after hitting the 40 winners’ mark on Sunday with Charminton.
“He rode Senor Don a treat last week and he reminds me a bit of (ex-Singapore champion jockey) Saimee (Jumaat) in the saddle – very balanced – and that has to be a good thing.
“For a claimer, he is very smart – makes good decisions – and he’s heading in the right direction to be a top jockey for sure.”
Leatherhead will carry the colours of owner Felizardo Jr. Sevilla for the first time on Sunday and Le Grange is hoping for a quick return on the recent investment by the Filipino owner.
“June (Sevilla) has just bought Leatherhead and he also has Malibu Beach running on Sunday ($30,000 Class 5 race Division 1 race over 1200m), who had one (unplaced) run for him already.
“He also has some youngsters on his books, so it would be nice if he can get some prizemoney this weekend.”
Le Grange – who has led in 27 winners in the 2022 season to sit fourth on the trainers’ premiership – has eight runners in total on Sunday and apart from Leatherhead, thinks the maiden runner Great Command will go well at his Singapore debut.
“He’s a colt, so he needs to behave, but he should go very well,” said the South African handler of the Air Force Blue four-year-old.
“(Owner) Paolo (Mendoza) raced him in Australia with his late father (Rodolfo) and I’ve been really impressed with him since he arrived.
“(Jockey) Danny (Beasley) rides him in trackwork and suggested blinkers would keep his mind on the job on race day.
“From what he has shown us at the track and trials, he will run very well if he keeps it together on the day.
“He’s in very good hands on Sunday with Danny. He’s not only a top jockey but his feedback from trackwork– especially on the young horses – is exceptional and in my opinion, there is none better.”
