Atlantean in fine form for Sunday
His Class 5 mates, Qaidoom and Intrepid, also turn in smart gallops during training at Kranji yesterday
Do not treat Class 5 horses like second-class citizens at Kranji.
Do not look down on them.
It is fine to live for the “Golden Monkeys”, the “Kosciuszkos” and the “Lightnings”.
But it is not fine to treat the lower-rated gallopers with disdain.
Yes, spare a thought for the Class 5 triers. In this business, they are the bread-and-butter horses and deserve our respect.
Come Sunday, four of the 11 races have been set aside for these lesser lights. Applaud them when they trot to the start.
And, if you are wondering where to plonk your dollar, here are three suggestions.
Check out Atlantean, Qaidoom and Intrepid.
Among them, they have won 10 races, with the most “accomplished” being Atlantean, who has won six races from a workload of 54 outings.
Trained by Alwin Tan for the Hwa Yi No. 3 Stable, Atlantean was one of the trio who impressed on the training track at Kranji yesterday morning.
With stablemate Bizar Wins for company, the son of Dick Turpin was in a good galloping mood.
Starting off from the 600m mark, he gave his stablemate a couple of lengths’ headstart before reeling him in and eventually beating him in that sharp gallop.
Atlantean clocked a brisk 37.4sec for the trip on the Polytrack with his last-start winning jockey Koh Teck Huat astride.
A winner as recently as June, the now-seven-year-old has, of late, been running pretty good races.
Indeed, it was just last month – on July 9 – that he missed out on his seventh career win.
That day, and when not having the best of luck in the running, he came home strongly to finish second behind Cizen Lucky, who prevailed by a nostril.
Atlantean is an honest 1,200m galloper. All his wins have been over that sprint trip.
It is his comfort zone and he will like the conditions on Sunday.
Then there is Qaidoom.
Racing in Class 5 Division 1, she went with two stablemates to run the 600m in 38.6sec.
Apprentice jockey Ibrahim Mamat was aboard.
Owned by the Al Rashid Stable, it was around this time last year that trainer Michael Clements sent her out for her first race.
And what a debut it turned out to be.
Qaidoom, with Hakim Kamaruddin on the reins, went to the front at the get-go and stayed there to justify that $10 price.
She eventually won by over three lengths.
Although Qaidoom is still learning the ropes, she was sent off as the favourite at her last two starts.
Both times, she made the board, finishing second behind Yes One Ball in late April and fourth to Snip at her last start in May.
Sunday’s outing will be her eighth race start. From her dash on the training track, Clements has got her ticking over nicely.
Intrepid was the other Class 5 runner who caught the eye on the training track. She ran the 600m in 42.3sec. Vlad Duric was the man in the saddle.
From Tim Fitzsimmons’ yard, Intrepid races in the now-familiar colours of the Buffalo Stable.
A winner in a Class 5 race over the 1,400m in March, she has since April been competing in Class 4 company.
However, it was just last month that she tumbled down into Class 5. That was on July 17 when, ridden by Daniel Moor, she finished a smack-up fifth in that race won by Russian Twist.
Intrepid should have come on nicely and she rates as a big chance on Sunday.
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