Pacific Bao Bei all set for second win

The way Pacific Bao Bei scraped home on debut might have felt a little underwhelming for a $12 favourite.

The Irish-bred did look like he would space his rivals when he came with a looping run from the 800m in a Class 4 Polytrack race (1,200m) on Jan 23.

But once he swept to the front for Wong Chin Chuen, he started to paddle, only to fall in by a head from Saturno Spring (Marc Lerner).

He is back for his second mission one month later, in Saturday’s $50,000 Class 4 race over 1,600m.

The hype around a Singapore Derby import will not die down but some may question if the former Marco Botti-trained stayer is what he is all cracked out to be.

His current handler, Michael Clements, however, saw plenty of merit in the first-up win.

If anything, the win was to him a bonus. With bigger fish to fry further down the road, the main goal for the four-year-old son of the legendary Sea Of Stars was to get that first race out of the way.

The former UK two-time 2,000m winner (Goodwood and Sandown), when racing as War Horse, has also given Clements a better insight on his makeup, as well as kinks that needed straightening out.

For a start, he was not fully primed and ready. The last of his eight runs in England came at Newmarket on July 8, when he beat one home.

“He was a little on the heavy side. He’s trimmed up 10kg since, which is good,” said Clements.

But the one flaw that the Zimbabwe-born trainer intends to address more urgently is his “herd instinct”.

Pacific Bao Bei seems to hate solitude; when he hit the front on debut, he was pulling up, as if looking for company to escort him to the post.

Luckily, he was less friendly where it mattered. Saturno Spring made ground, but Pacific Bao Bei kicked again to hold him at bay.

“Off the first run, when he hits open space, he stargazes,” said Clements.

“He looks around if there is no horse to go with him.

“That was a bit of a concern. CC Wong got him to the front easy but it got tricky in the closing stages.

“It’s only when the other horse joined him that he got going again.”

Clements has included more bunny-chasing practice in the hope the Pacific Stable-owned galloper will concentrate better, starting from this weekend.

At a barrier trial on Feb 14, he had a smothered run for as long as he could.

He ran fourth, but many would not have missed the late squeeze when the trial was already over.

In one fell swoop, Pacific Bao Bei sliced through the field with the same electric turn of foot that he showed when he whipped around the field at his Kranji debut victory.

“We’ve always done that with him in his gallops, let him come from behind. It’s to boost his confidence level,” said Clements.

“He had another trial last week and a gallop on Monday morning.”

Interestingly, Wong, who rides the bulk of Pacific Stable’s horses, is giving way to Vlad Duric for the steer this time around.

“The owner actually uses other jockeys. He is booking Vlad because 57.5kg suited his weight,” said Clements.

Wong will not be left in the lurch, though. The first pin of Clements’ Saturday hat-trick of wins, Iron Ruler, is on the quick back-up, and the in-form Malaysian jockey, who was aboard in that Kranji Stakes C (1,600m) win, stays on.

“It was good to see Iron Ruler win a high class race last week. He’s won mostly in Class 4,” said Clements. “We’ve kept him fresh for this race and he has also drawn gate No. 1.”

While the field does not have a lot of depth on paper, the likes of Hero, Lim’s Puncak Jaya and last-start winner Axel are the main candidates who can thwart the Clements duo.