Fresh off a hat-trick of wins that would help in defending his champion trainer’s title last Saturday, Tim Fitzsimmons will saddle two winning chances, In All His Glory and Ace Sovereign, in the $50,000 Class 4 mile on the Polytrack on Saturday.
In All His Glory, in particular, will appreciate the drop to Class 4 company. Though he has not won since August 2022, his last win was in a solid Class 3 field over the same trip and surface.
The seven-year-old son of All Too Hard was also coming off a tough run in a Class 3 race (1400m) on 7 October. While he is tasked to carry the top impost of 59kgs on Saturday, a return to the winner’s circle would not come as a surprise to Fitzsimmons, who put a line through his last run.
“He (In All His Glory) had a really hard run the other day,” explained Fitzsimmons on Tuesday.
“His form prior to that was good without winning, so coupled with the drop in class and (apprentice jockey) Azhar’s (Rasid) claim (four kilos), he looks well suited.
“He has won on the Polytrack before so that’s no issue and I think if he gets a good barrier, he should go very close.
“He’s (In All His Glory) getting older but definitely still have some wins left in him. He had an easy gallop under Azhar this morning and I’m pretty happy with how he is going.
“This is a good opportunity for both the horse and (apprentice) jockey to knock in another win. He’s (Azhar) a fantastic kid, hardworking and well-mannered and I think he is getting better with every ride.”
No claim will be needed for Fitzsimmons’ other runner as four-time champion jockey Vlad Duric is booked to ride the honest Ace Sovereign.
“He’s ultra consistent,” said the Australian conditioner of the six-year-old son of Darci Brahma.
“I think he was unlucky not to win the other day when he drew wide (in a Class 4 race over 1600m on 30 July). We rode him back, they went slow and he got no luck in the straight. But he wasn’t far off the winner at the finish.
“No excuses at his last start (in a Class 4 race over 1400m on 21 October) though as he was beaten by a better horse (Makin). But he showed – by default really – that he can race handy or back depending on the draws, which gives him scope.
“So we will wait until we see the draw before we decide what Vlad will do and obviously, the tempo would play a part. But he rarely runs a bad race and while this will be his third run in six weeks or so, we’ve kept him fresh and the horse is well.”
Fitzsimmons – who now sits just four behind leader Jason Ong on the trainers’ log with eight meetings left in the season – had nine other horses nominated on Saturday and thought Gold Governor can help narrow that gap even further in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1400m.
“He won really well at his last start (in an Open Maiden race over 1400m on 13 August),” he said of the four-year-old son of Vancouver.
“But unfortunately, he had an accident in his box not long after. He banged his head and had to take a break. It wasn’t ideal but I thought the break did him a world of good.
“His recent trial with (jockey) Ronnie (Stewart) was fantastic (won trial no 4 on 26 October in the time of 1 min 1.07secs) and he (Stewart) rides him this Saturday.
“He (Gold Governor) was very competitive in Novice races before his maiden win, so I thought he is more than up to this company.”
Looking ahead, Fitzsimmons has five horses, Relentless, Dream Alliance, Raising Sixty-One, Trumpy and King Of Sixty-One, nominated for the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) on 11 November and he is hoping for some rain for his top-rated runner, Relentless (87).
“Relentless needs rain,” he said of the Hallowed Crown six-year-old.
“The tracks have been too firm, so some watering during the week would be good, but he (Relentless) comes in with some nice form and looks suited at the handicap conditions over 2000m.
“Dream Alliance (x Into Mischief) should go well too. I can’t fault his form, even if he had an odd preparation. We dropped him back in distance since the (Group 1) (Singapore) Derby (1800m on 23 July), but he gained confidence and I think he will see the trip out.
“I thought he had excuses in the (Group 2) Stewards’ Cup (1600m on 2 July) and the Derby. He’s an exciting horse and hopefully, gets a bit more luck in the Group race this time.
“(Jockeys) Ronnie is booked on Relentless and Bruno (Queiroz) on Dream Alliance, but I’m not sure if the others (Raising Sixty-One, Trumpy and King Of Sixty-One) will get a start.”
In terms of ratings, Raising Sixty-One (73), Trumpy (73) and King Of Sixty-One (67) are currently ranked 20th and below on the Singapore Gold Cup’s nomination list of 26 runners, whereas a maximum of 16 runners will be selected to make up the final field in the third leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series.
