Greatham Boy is fighting fit

He has shown all the signs of a good horse. After just three runs at Kranji, Greatham Boy has put together an exciting and impressive resume.

Twice already, he has had his photo taken with his proud connections.

The first was on June 17 when, on debut, he strode home to take that Restricted Maiden race by 1¼ lengths. It was over the 1,100m on the Polytrack.

He made it two on the trot on July 23, when he claimed the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe over the 1,200m on grass.

Yes, Greatham Boy is not yet done for the 2023 season.

Formerly prepared by Michael Clements, he is now under the care of Tim Fitzsimmons, who has entered him in a winnable Class 4 race over the 1,200m on turf.

In preparation for that assignment, Fitzsimmons sent him out for a training gallop on Dec 5.

Ridden by Vlad Duric, who knows him well, Greatham Boy was not asked to do anything spectacular.

Indeed, it was under his own steam that he ran out the 600m in 41.9sec. He looked fighting fit.

For one so young, he certainly knows the ropes and his three runs to date have all been free of “incidents”.

It was on Nov 11 that Greatham Boy had his first start for Fitzsimmons but had to settle for second as the $10 favourite.

To smoothen out any rough edges, Fitzsimmons sent him to the trials.

That was on Nov 28 and he again showed his winning ways when beating City Gold Telecom by 1½ lengths in 1min 00.59sec.

Right now, Greatham Boy is good to go. But, to make it three wins from four starts, he must beat an old “enemy” in Silo.

They clashed in the Golden Horseshoe where Silo suffered a one-length defeat.

They again crossed swords at the trials on Nov 2 and again it was Greatham Boy who came out tops, beating Silo by a length.

Well, for certain, Silo and his connections will have revenge on their minds and you cannot blame them for being confident.

Silo was another “star” on the training track.

With apprentice jockey Jerlyn Seow doing the steering, Silo did everything right when running the 600m in a neat 39.9.

Stephen Crutchley, who trains the three-year-old colt, would have been pleased.

To date, Silo has been a good horse to have in the yard. He has had five starts for one win, three seconds and a third.

Also on Dec 9, is that Class 4 race over the mile.

It should be a highly competitive event as there are a bunch of hopefuls in the line-up – like five last-start winners and two horses who finished second at their last outings.

In that group, you will find Roda Robot and Winning Stride. They threw their hats into the ring when looking good in their respective training gallops.

A last-start winner, Roda Robot stopped the clock at 39.6, while last-start runner-up Winning Stride registered 40.8.

Both have been consistent and they are the ones to watch.

brian@sph.com.sg