Lim’s Smythe looks the part
Beaten by Ace Of Diamonds, Bakeel in G2 Guineas, Meagher’s 3YO will find C4 easier
On his third place in the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1,600m), you would be hard-pressed not to pick Lim’s Smythe in the much softer $50,000 Class 4 race (1,600m) on June 30.
Beaten only by arguably the two best three-year-olds in 2024, Ace Of Diamonds and Bakeel, the son of Saxon Warrior will lap up the downgrade to more moderate opposition, although the likes of Super Baby, Arya Pakuan and Great Warrior are no pushovers in this class.
For a slighty built horse, the 53kg is a luxury of a handicap which will feel like a postage-stamp load compared to the 57kg impost he had to lug at his last two starts in Group company.
Incidentally, such a light weight meant that trainer Daniel Meagher and Lim’s Stable’s go-to jockey Marc Lerner had to give the saddle up to another rider.
Not only Bruno Queiroz qualifies, but he also knows Lim’s Smythe well for having ridden him to the last of his two wins, in a similar contest on April 6.
He was snagged back to the rear after jumping from a wide alley, and still spotted the leaders around eight lengths turning for home.
But, once Queiroz peeled him to the outside in search of daylight, he suddenly put in the big bounds to score a soft win.
The only query about Lim’s Smythe is he can be guilty of sluggish getaways at times. But, over the Long Course B and from barrier No. 1, he should have plenty of time and real estate to unleash his blinding turn of foot in the home straight.
Fellow three-year-old Super Baby has not mixed it with his better peers like Lim’s Smythe has, but the consistent son of Deep Field did turn in a creditable third to Bakeel in a Class 4 race (1,600m) on June 9, despite coursing out wide for most of the way.
He has unfortunately drawn sticky again in gate No. 7, but Bernardo Pinheiro knows how to get the best out of him, having steered him to two of his three wins.
Honest galloper Arya Pakuan hit the ground running for his new trainer, James Peters, in a Class 5 race (1,400m) on May 5.
The Sebring four-year-old has never won over 1,600m, and the rise in class is also daunting. But his former trainer Stephen Gray believed he had stamina and, from the way he closed in at his last-start win, he should measure up.
Great Warrior is one of those hyped-up horses who, more often than not, flatters to deceive.
The 11-0-1-4 record speaks for itself. But Manoel Nunes sticking with him over Arya Pakuan is a useful pointer, even if jockeys do not always get it right, including champions like Nunes.
To be fair, the Irish-bred son of Sioux Nation did not quite get the luck of the Irish at his last two runs.
Last start, Nunes lost his iron upon straightening, while they were baulked for a run at the previous outing, albeit the gelding was rather one-paced to the line.
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