Howzat! Wonderful shoots for six
Kranji trackwork
Jockey John Powell was a busy man at Kranji yesterday morning and when the dust had settled, two of his mounts stood out for special mention.
WONDERFUL was one of those morning stars. O'WHAT A FEELING was the other. Both were prepared for their jobs by Shane Baertschiger.
In the case of Wonderful, who has already garnered five on the trot and is aiming for his sixth straight success, he looked a picture on the training track - freezing the clocks at 37.2sec for his 600m hit-out.
O'What A Feeling, down to contest the Class 4 race over the mile on Sunday, was equally impressive.
He picked up speed after a strong canter to cover the 600m in 37.3sec.
Still, we all know that come Sunday the attention will focus on Wonderful in Race 9.
He's one of a clutchful of talents contesting the day's top draw the Open Benchmark 97 sprint over the 1,100m.
Eyeballing him all the way wil be speedster Sebas and the pair from Ricardo Le Grange's yard - The General and The Nutcracker.
Both of Le Grange's runners put in solid workouts on Tuesday morning and have the credentials to run a big race.
Still, Wonderful's lofty ambition will make him the sentimental favourite with racegoers.
Comfortable when parked near the front, the trip and the underfoot conditions will suit.
And we have seen him win - against lesser opponents, no doubt - when humping 58kg and 58.5kg.
Still, and because we all know that any racing jurisdiction will be proud to have a "six-shooter" in their midst, we reckon the cheers on Sunday might just carry this five-year-old to victory. Fingers crossed.
As for O'What A Feeling, both his wins were done from the front and we expect nothing less from him in Race 11 on Sunday.
One of two last-start winners in the line-up - the other being Classified - O'What A Feeling is a proven Class 4 contender and his last win on Feb 17 was full of merit.
Drawn the BKE in that race over the mile, Powell sent him to the front when the chutes flew open.
From that outside gate, he gradually found the rails and when the challenges came thick and fast he still managed to hold off the posse and win with, what did look like, petrol in the tank.
Just a four-year-old having his 12th start, this son of O'Reilly could have fans and followers of the Baertschiger yard grinning all the way home.
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