Logan’s 3YO trio catch the eye

Just a month after preparing January to lift the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m) in fine style, trainer Donna Logan could make it two on the trot by taking out the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1,400m) on Saturday.

Kranji’s only woman trainer had three runners in the Classic, which was called off on April 29 due to horrid wet weather.

Well, the three runners are back for a tilt at the big money.

In separate gallops on Tuesday morning, January, Luxury Brand and Knippenberg came away with flying colours.

On the form they paraded, all three could have a hand in making it a “Donna Double” on Saturday, although trainer Michael Clements is well represented with four strong runners.

Clements’ Pacific Hero, Pacific Warrior, Takanini and Coin Toss all looked the part in their gallops on Monday.

Taking it from the top, Logan’s January appears to be in fighting shape.

He was not asked to do more than what was necessary when reeling off 600m in 42.1sec.

Simon Kok, who had the seat when he won the Sprint, was once again the man in the saddle.

With Yusoff Fadzli doing the steering, Luxury Brand went over the same short and sharp trip in 40.9, while Knippenberg was fastest of the Logan lot in 39.2.

It remains a toss-up as to who topped the training sheet but, on the strength of his win in the Sprint, January must get the nod.

The youngster, who has been “well educated” with eight runs at Kranji, was a surprise package in the 1,200m Sprint.

Sent off as a $40 chance, he came with a huge run from no-man’s land to set tongues wagging.

He was, after all, a noted 1,400m runner and the astute racegoers assumed wrongly that the 1,400m Classic would be his target.

Well, he proved them wrong and could now make it two from two in his quest for the highly prized treble. The Group 2 Singapore Guineas, to be run over 1,600m, comes up on May 20.

But first, it is back to the Classic and it must be said that January will be a major force over his pet trip.

Logan has kept him ticking over nicely and he should parade as a top fancy on Saturday.

Luxury Brand is no slouch. Like January, he, too, has raced eight times for three good wins.

Punters sent him off as the $19 pick in the Sprint and he had them worried when he was last when the field raced down that back stretch and into that first turn.

But, to his credit, he came home like a bullet train to finish an eye-catching third.

Like January, Luxury Brand will also appreciate the 1,400m and the pair could be the ones motoring home to the cheers from the grandstand.

Knippenberg, who was cruising in his workout, has already posted one win from his three Kranji starts.

He made the board (fourth) in the Sprint. Come Saturday, he must figure in the reckoning.

A son of I Am Invincible, Knippenberg raced twice in Australia before being flown out here to continue his racing career.

He is a work in progress and could help beef up those novelty bets in the Classic.

Ignore him at your own risk.

In the Class 3 race on the undercard, trainer Tim Fitzsimmons holds the whip hand with four in-form runners.

All four were out on the training track and, on the strength of their gallops, they should give last season’s champion trainer a big say in the sharp Polytrack 1,100m sprint race.

Illustrious clocked 39 for his 600m spin, while Dancing Light, Gold Ten Sixty-One and Mimosas ran the same distance in 39.8, 41.1 and 40.1 respectively.

Illustrious and Dancing Light won their trials last Thursday.

If they carry that form into Saturday’s contest, we could see a Fitzsimmons quinella.

Or, who knows, maybe even a trifecta or a quartet, with Gold Ten Sixty-One and Mimosas making up the foursome.

Indeed, in that trial won by Dancing Light on April 27, Gold Ten Sixty-One finished second. He was beaten by a nose.

He had, just a month earlier, finished third in another trial won by Super Salute, who went on to win the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1,400m).

It was a really tight finish and Gold Ten Sixty-One lost out in a bob of heads.

A handsome grey, Gold Ten Sixty-One certainly knows the thrill of winning races.

He has been in that hallowed enclosure four times already.

The last win was on Feb 25, when he romped in by two lengths from City Gold Forward over 1,000m on the Polytrack.

On the strength of the workouts by Illustrious, Dancing Light, Gold Ten Sixty-One and Mimosas, Fitzsimmons certainly has Saturday’s Class 3 contest at his mercy.