Siam Vipasiri struts her stuff
The best from Tuesday morning's trials at Kranji
Siam Vipasiri is one tough mare. Maybe not as tough as that wonder mare What's New. But she might be getting there.
Still a four-year-old, Siam Vipasiri she was at the trials on Tuesday morning and, like we have seen her do in her races, she made the "boys" eat her dust.
Ridden by Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, she stayed with the leader Mig Pierro until the 600m mark, when she decided she needed to put the boys in their places.
Taking the lead into the stretch, she brushed aside all challenges to win by three parts of a length. Her time of 60.94sec for the Polytrack 1,000m was the fastest of the four trials that morning.
Then again, sometimes it is not how fast you do it but how you do it that really matters. And, in the case of Siam Vipasiri, she did it in style.
Out of the money in just four of her 11 starts, she should have ended her 2019 campaign on a winning note.
But it was not to be. She was shouted the winner 150m out in that 1,400m race last October, but was caught on the line by Salamence. The margin: a nose.
Cotton-wooled at trainer Michael Clements' yard for the better part of five months, the three-time winner is moving in the right direction and her comeback race could set the ball rolling for what might be a rollicking 2020.
It was around this time last year when she posed for a winning photo.
Although she has repaid her connections for that $140,000 purchase price- with substantial interest - the wait for that fourth win must seem very long.
Watch out for the mare when she next goes to the races.
Also impressive at the trials was a seven-year-old with a low 48-point rating. But, if you didn't know it, then you wouldn't have guessed.
Ridden by Joseph See, Absolute Miracle trialled with the gusto of a juvenile. Jumping cleanly for the innermost alley, he tracked the pace set by Ace Sovereign, Silver Sky and My Genesis.
This "quartet" were four abreast at the 600m mark but, when they straightened, Absolute Miracle decided to break clear.
He shook them off at the 250m mark and was eased down over the concluding stages to win the trial by half a length.
Silver Sky, ridden by Saifudin Ismail, stayed on for second spot, with High Voltage (TH Koh) taking third. Absolute Miracle clocked 61.90sec.
Trained by Jason Ong, Absolute Miracle is one of those bread-and-butter campaigners who pays for his keep with dogged performances.
To date, he's raced 51 times for three wins, five seconds and five thirds.
He won't be going to Hollywood anytime soon but he's like an old cavalry horse. Even at seven, he still hears bugles everytime he is dressed up for the races.
Like so many old-timers plying their trade in this tough environment, he is - as his name implies - an absolute miracle.
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