Pattaya set to end runner-up finishes
The best from the training track yesterday morning
Frustrating has to be the word to describe how the Falcon Racing Stable team must be feeling whenever the talk shifts to their runner, Pattaya.
After all, four times in his last four races, Pattaya has had to play second fiddle. And, anyone in the game will tell you, it's no fun.
Well, drawing a line through his work on the training track, the four-year-old could break that losing sequence and, in the process, put another win on the board.
On a nice morning, devoid of rain, Pattaya flexed his muscles, running the 600m in a breezy 38sec.
It was a good piece of work from the son of Sacred Falls who, some three weeks ago, came agonisingly close to posting his third career win.
Alas, it was not to be. Sent off as the $14 favourite in that 1,200m contest, Pattaya charged home over the concluding stages but could not mow down Beer Garden who had pinched the run on him.
The margin was a shorthead. For his connections, it was no consolation.
For the fourth time in a row, the number "2" would precede his name. A month earlier, on Dec 12, it was the same old story. Obliged to race wide for most of the 1,200m trip, he again motored home but, by then, the bird had flown and Champagne Finale took the prize by almost a length.
With no beer or champagne or any other intoxicating grog to distract him on Sunday, hopefully we will see Pattaya run home a winner in the Class 4 (2) sprint over the 1,200m.
The conditions will suit him and, with trainer Michael Clements producing winners from a conveyor belt, Pattaya should be a popular choice.
SUPER INVINCIBLE
Also stretching out in preparation for Sunday's action was Super Invincible.
Ridden by apprentice-in-demand Rosman Iskandar, Super Invincible showed a swift turn of hoof to run out the 600m in 36.3sec.
Trained by Lee Freedman, who in a month or so will be closing shop at Kranji and heading back to Australia, Super Invincible could be another one of Freedman's going-away gifts to the Kranji faithful.
A work in progress, the four-year-old has a huge career ahead of him.
Since arriving in the first quarter of last season, after winning two races Down Under, Super Invincible has had five starts for two wins and two runner-up spots.
Impressive at the trials, he got off the mark at his third start in October last year.
Following that was a second-placed finish behind Churchill. But he quickly put that behind him with a convincing victory at his last start.
Super Invincible is in "the zone" right now and, while he meets some pretty smart ones on Sunday, he is favoured at the weights and must be given an outstanding chance.
Watch out also for Leatherhead in the Class 4 race over the 1,700m.
The Ricardo Le Grange-trained gelding didn't do a thing wrong in his workout, clocking 36sec for the 600m.
A last-start winner, he will be looking forward to the task for his third Kranji win on Sunday. He will feel right at home over track and trip and, while he must shoulder topweight of 59kg, he does look a tad too smart for Class 4 company.
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