Boy Xander bouncing back
Trainer Jason Lim’s smart debut winner will be resuming next month after his trial victory
Boy Xander, the smart debut winner who has not raced for a year, caught the eye when romping home in the first of three trials at Kranji yesterday morning.
Ridden by three-time Singapore champion and this season’s leading rider Manoel Nunes, the Jason Lim-trained four-year-old New Zealand-bred led and scooted home by 23/4 lengths in a decent 1min 00.81sec for the Polytrack 1,000m.
Stablemate Idlewild, who raced formerly as Tingle Marc under Steven Burridge and then John O’Hara, finished well for second.
Named after his five-year-old son, Alexander, and raced in partnership with an owner under Good Men Racing Stable, Boy Xander showed promise by winning first-up in Restricted Maiden last Feb 27. The then two-time trial winner scored in a close finish over the Polytrack 1,200m in 1:11.71.
With Troy See astride, he beat Poly 1,100m record holder Elliot Ness by just a nose. Con Speranza, since then a two-time winner, was third, half a length away.
But, after that dream debut, Boy Xander was sidelined through injury. The bay gelding has recovered and will be resuming soon.
Lim was pleased with his trial yesterday morning.
“I think it was a good blowout from him. He needed this trial, but the field wasn’t that strong,” said the 41-year-old Singaporean.
“Two weeks ago, he ran third. This horse has ability but he had a couple of setbacks last year.
“He had a slight fracture on his right hind knee that was undetected and he was just working and working.”
Lim then noticed there was a slight lameness and sent his horse to the veterinary surgeon. An X-ray showed the slight fracture on his knee.
“That’s why we gave him a long break. He’s coming back all right. So far so good. He pulled up well after this morning’s trial, all sound,” said Lim.
“We plan to race him in March. We are looking at the Class 4 Poly 1,100m or 1,200m. I will discuss with Nunes. Nowadays he helps with a lot of horses, so it’s good.”
Yesterday’s Kranji barrier trial results:
TRIAL 1
1 Boy Xander H (M Nunes)
2 Idlewild
3 Legacy Warrior (K A’Isisuhairi)
4 Rusty Rust
5 King Zoustar (N Zyrul)
6 Super Extreme
Margins and time: 23/4, 33/4, 3/4, 2, 36 (1min 00.81 sec)
TRIAL 2
1 Charger H
2 Russian Twist H (J Bayliss)
3 Illustrious (Nunes)
4 Strong N Best (S John)
Margins and time: 11/2, 63/4, 13/4
( 1:00.88)
TRIAL 3
1 Mister Dynamo H (Nunes)
2 Ninetysix Warrior (K Faiz)
3 Song Of Nature (TH Koh)
4 Eunos Ave Three
Margins and time: Hd, shd, 43/4 (1:01.43)
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