Follow Relentless and Golden Monkey

On a morning of trials at Kranji yesterday when the attention was on the two Kranji Mile protagonists, defending champion Minister and Horse of the Year Lim’s Lightning, it was leading trainer Tim Fitzsimmon’s Relentless and Golden Monkey who earned the headlines.

A Singapore Derby wannabe, Relentless caught the eye with his strong victory over the Jason Ong-trained What You Like.

Although the 1min 01.56sec for the Polytrack 1,000m was the slowest of the five trials, the manner in which Relentless performed was simply awesome.

Second-last early and wide, leading jockey Manoel Nunes allowed his mount to swoop up swiftly from the middle stages to be second behind What You Like.

Straightening up very wide, Relentless cleared away easily unextended to score by a neat length.

Owned by Arexevan-Relentless Stable, the three-time winner is hitting top form again.

In his last start on April 23, the four-year-old Australian-bred finished a good third behind Lucky Imperator over 1,400m.

He had also won his trial before that race.

But, with that run and yesterday’s trial, it could well be a different story altogether. 

We could see a much-fitter Relentless. 

He should be hard to beat on Kranji Mile Day tomorrow week.

“I’m really happy with his trial today. I wanted him to have a decent trial without doing too much,” said Fitzsimmons.

“He will run next week in a Class 4 1,600m race. It has taken a few runs to get back to peak fitness.

“I thought his run the other day was really good. He stumbled at the start and never got on the track. 

“He was wide on a day when horses were struggling to make up much ground.

“If he draws a nice barrier next week, I think he will be really hard to beat.

“Really happy with him. He’s on a Derby preparation, so he’ll run next week, then to the Stewards’ Cup and straight to the Derby.”

The $150,000 Group 2 Stewards’ Cup over 1,600m is on June 26. 

The $400,000 Group 1 Singapore Derby over 1,800m is on July 17.

Golden Monkey, a horse destined to go places, has certainly thrived, following his second-up victory on April 23.

In yesterday’s trial, jockey Oscar Chavez kept Golden Monkey just behind Lord Justice.

But, once he saw daylight on straightening, the three-year-old chestnut Australian-bred lifted his head and lengthened his strides.

That was without Chavez’s asking. He could have won easier than the half-length recorded and 1:01.35 time.

“Golden Monkey obviously came off that really nice win,” said Fitzsimmons.

“Same thing, I just wanted him to have a reasonably easy trial today, just under his own steam.

“I’m really happy, he keeps improving. I think he has got a lot of improvement left in him and, today, he showed that he improved from his last run.

“He will run in a Novice 1,200m next week.”

With his other horses also well prepared, it looks like Fitzsimmons is going to hog the limelight on Kranji Mile Day.

It will also be the day Donna Logan is hoping for a back-to-back $1 million Group 1 Kranji Mile success with Minister, who finished second in yesterday’s fastest trial.

The Shane Baertschiger-trained Red Ocean won in under a minute, 59.85 seconds.

The Daniel Meagher-trained Lim’s Lightning was just out to stretch his legs, as he beat only one home. He will be a totally different horse on race day.