Lim’s Bighorn issues another warning
Meagher’s last-start runaway winner has thrived and will prove too good in Class 5
It is not always advisable to make a Class 5 horse a top bet. Horses in this grade are as unpredictable as the weather.
They are inconsistent, they have patchy and mixed form.
Such horses could appear to be in superb shape but would run like donkeys, and sometimes Class 5 nags could also spring a big surprise on their day.
Having said that, there is one Class 5 horse that can be backed with confidence at Kranji on Feb 3.
He is Lim’s Bighorn in the opening event (12pm).
The Daniel Meagher-trained and Lim’s Stable-owned youngster may be classified in Class 5 – in the $30,000 race over the Polytrack 1,100m – but he certainly has the quality to take on higher-class gallopers.
He got in the Feb 3 race because of his rating of 48, which is the top of lowest rating band and, thus, he will have to carry the top weight (59kg).
The top impost may look a bit of a concern, but Lim’s Bighorn’s “class” should see him through.
After all, the Australian-bred by Better Than Ready was not a constant feature in Class 5 but a new horse with potential.
Costing A$110,000 (S$97,000) as a yearling, he has had only two starts at Kranji. Both times, he showed promise.
He ran third in his debut on Nov 25. The winner in that $20,000 Open Maiden affair, Aniki, franked the form by winning his next two starts (in a $75,000 Novice and $50,000 Class 4).
Lim’s Bighorn made huge improvement second-up on Jan 6, too. He led all the way to win by almost four lengths in a smart 1min 11.37sec for the Poly 1,200m.
He has thrived further. If his four-length trial victory on Jan 25 is anything to go by, it will take a Class 5-turned-Class 3 or 4 horse to beat Lim’s Bighorn on Feb 3.
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