Trainer Michael Clements has a stranglehold on the first leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint at Kranji this Saturday.
Clements boasts four in-form runners in the field of 15, with PACIFIC WARRIOR and COIN TOSS standing out as the strongest two of his brigade. PACIFIC WARRIOR, who competed in strong 2YO and 3YO races in Australia, should acquit himself well first-up but will be improving with time over more distance, while Clements was vocal about COIN TOSS’S chances during the week, stating that he has “has done the mileage and would be the stable elect.”
Trainer Ricardo Le Grange’s talent BESTSELLER can spring an upset from gate 1 under Manoel Nunes. Beaten a long neck third to EJAZ last start is the right form line for Sunday’s feature race and a big run is to be expected.
Speaking of champion jockey Manoel Nunes, he partners impressive debut winner SPEEDY BUCK who looks on track to land a double in the $75,000 Novice race over 1100m on the Polytrack.
SPEEDY BUCK had trialled well in both Singapore and New Zealand prior to his debut three weeks ago and he simply franked what he had shown in trials with a facile debut win that day. Despite a betting drift, the son of Shamexpress was always in touch throughout, sitting on speed to score by one length over 1000m at this track while recording a slick winning time of 58.57 seconds.
This week, SPEEDY BUCK is well placed in a below-par Novice field, where more than half of his rivals are maiden runners, so he can prove very hard to beat with Nunes jumping in the saddle.
