Freedman’s foursome steps up to the fore
Veteran trainer has a smart string entered for Friday
To put it in a nutshell, you could say - and you wouldn't be wrong - that yesterday morning, the training track at the Kranji Racecourse belonged to Lee Freedman.
With seven runners entered for the standalone meeting on Friday night, four of his runners caught the eye.
There was Mr Alejandro striding out nicely with Augustano - who is not entered for the meeting.
And trackwatchers were delighted to see Mr Malek in the light of dawn.
Not to mention Ocean Crossing - who went better than Delaware, who is another not entered for the meeting.
Then there was Sun Ace, who had Michael Rodd in the saddle for his piece of work. He did 36.8sec for the 600m.
So, who was the standout? It had to be Mr Alejandro.
The son of Rip Van Winkle was anything but asleep when taken out by Louis Beuzelin for his 600m spin which he covered in 37.4sec, finishing with plenty in hand.
Still a three-year-old, he is better than his track record seems to suggest.
It shows just one win from seven starts. That solitary victory came in January and the two runs which followed weren't inspiring.
Then again, there were excuses. Both those runs were over the mile. He drops back to the 1,400m in a Class 4 Division 2 race on Friday - and it looks more like his cup of tea.
Indeed, it was over the 1,400m on grass that Mr Alejandro saluted. Given the December break in racing, it was his first race in almost three months and he had bulked up to 527kg.
He carried that weight well, coming off a sit in fourth spot when they straightened, to win with plenty of authority.
He meets some good ones on Friday. Like Kimitonara, Galaxy Star and stablemate Amore Amore. But he appears to be in good enough condition to give them a run for their money.
What can we say about Mr Malek that hasn't already been said?
Well, we could talk about his work on the training track and while he didn't break any land speed records, his gallop was fluent enough to suggest he hadn't lost any condition since that last race just over a fortnight ago.
With Patrick Moloney in the irons, Mr Malek ran over the 600m in 41.1sec.
A prolific moneyspinner for the Oscar Racing Stable, the three-year-old by Swiss Ace won his last start in a canter, coming from third spot 300m out to put something like 21/2 lengths between himself at the rest.
Heading "the rest" was Trapio who was an impressive winner on Sunday.
Mr Malek will line up against a smart field in the Class 3 sprint over the 1,200m.
But being the honest racehorse that he is, he will have loads of friends wagering on him as he attempts to make it four wins on the trot.
Be sure you're in the queue.
As for Ocean Crossing, Moloney had him humming along at the end of his 600m hit-out in 36.5sec.
His last-start fifth behind Axel suggested that he was running into some good form. But he has a punishing weight of 58.5kg to carry in that Class 4 sprint over the 1,400m.
But he's a big boy, so don't be swayed by the lead in the saddlebags. He could still pull it off.
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