It all points to Lucky Jinsha

Make no mistakes, he is one of the most improved horses at Kranji.

I am talking about Lucky Jinsha, the winner of five of his last six starts – the last four in a row.

For sure, he has become leading trainer Tim Fitzsimmon’s pet horse.

How could he not be?

After taking over the Lucky Unicorn-owned four-year-old in the middle of last year from John O’Hara, who had a fourth from six outings, the Australian has transformed the horse.

After a seventh placing under him, Lucky Jinsha has gone from strength to strength.

The bay Australian-bred gelding won his next start, finished second and continued his rise with a four-win streak.

The way he has been working for tomorrow’s Race 11 – the $70,000 Class 3 event over the Polytrack 1,200m – clearly suggests he has thrived further.

True, this will be his toughest test, meeting the likes of another five-time winner King Arthur and his Donna Logan-trained stablemate, Hadeer, who has scored four times.

But his final gallop on Tuesday morning in 38.3 seconds for 600m really drew my attention. He was really enjoying his morning out and strode out effortlessly.

Before his last success, he did 40.9sec leisurely. This time, he was in greater spirit. That was it. I will make him my headline act in the card of 12 tomorrow.

Fitzsimmons, too, is buoyant with Lucky Jinsha’s preparation.

“I am really happy with him, much happier than I was going into his last run,” he said.

“His gallop was good on Tuesday, but more of just a maintenance gallop. His work last Thursday was really good, which was his main workout in preparation for this race. 

“This race is obviously his toughest test yet, with some really smart horses like King Arthur, Hadeer and Paletas was a super run last start. 

“All going well this week, I’m really looking forward to stepping him up to the 1,400m next start.”

Lucky Jinsha proved he was just as adept on the turf with his first success on the surface in his last start, but his four other victories were on the Poly 1,200m.

This is the thing: He is back to his pet track and distance tomorrow, what more can one ask?

Three of his four Poly victories were by big margins – 33/4, seven and 51/2 lengths. Not only that, he also clocked respectable times – all in 1min 11sec plus.

His last-start turf success over 1,200m was in a splendid 1:09.69. This speaks volumes of his vast improvement rate, a credit to Fitzsimmons. As I joked with him, he serves great Western meals which Lucky Jinsha enjoys. He laughed.

While I also think Logan’s pair are standing in Lucky Jinsha’s way, I feel a greater threat is trainer Michael Clements’ Paletas.

The five-year-old Kiwi-bred will relish the anticipated good pace, with King Arthur and Hadeer taking up the lead or breathing down Lucky Jinsha’s neck.

This will not do them any good. They could kill each other. Only the fittest will survive.

If they go hard, Paletas will be the biggest beneficiary. He is a good come-from-behind type, whose one of four wins was over the Poly 1,200m.

Since his return from a 41/2-month spell, Paletas has run two good races – for third over 1,200m Poly and turf.

In his last start, he lost to Lucky Jinsha, who led all the way, by 13/4 lengths. But he will be receiving 3kg for that. He is also well drawn – in Gate 3. The weight reprieve and the draw could turn it around.

But I still trust Lucky Jinsha. He is fighting fit and is in good hands. Three-time champion jockey Manoel Nunes will be looking for a hat-trick with his partner.