Speedy Buck to keep rolling

Given his smart debut victory over the Polytrack 1,000m in a slick 58.57sec on March 18, Speedy Buck is entitled to have a crack at Saturday’s $110,000 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint over 1,200m.

But trainer Jason Ong is not enticed by the richer and more glamorous event, which is the first leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge series.

It is a case of the head ruling the heart.

Yes, it is more prestigious running in the richer Group 3 feature in the penultimate of 12 races.

But that will mean pitting his promising three-year-old against against a host of other bright youngsters, including six other last-start victors and other proven winners, in the capacity field of 16.

Patience is a virtue, so they say.

Ong has decided he would opt out of the 3YO Sprint and plotted an easier course for Speedy Buck.

The chase for fame can wait – until his charge is more solid and ready to take on the big young guns.

The genial Singaporean handler has entered Speedy Buck in the winnable $75,000 Novice event over the Poly 1,100m in Race 7.

While the Great Teamwork Stable-owned New Zealand-bred would be lost in a sea of winners and has to fight hard for his chaff, he stands out like soot on snow in the Novice race.

He has only seven rivals to contend with and he looks the one to beat on current form.

Furthermore, Ong has engaged four-time Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes for the job and his charge is drawn handily in Gate 4.

It was Wong Chin Chuen who scored on Speedy Buck in his debut. The newly crowned champion resident jockey will be riding Pacific Master.

The Michael Clements-trained newcomer won once (1,200m on a heavy track) from seven starts in Australia as Sketched.

He is an unknown, but his preparation indicates that he may need the run.

The Leslie Khoo-trained Grandeur and the James Peters-trained Golden Sentience are Speedy Buck’s probable threats.

Grandeur, a four-year-old, stepped up on his debut sixth to finish third second-up. He is handicapped at 55kg, just one 1kg less than Speedy Buck.

Golden Sentience was third last time behind Speedy Buck after two unplaced outings. He will benefit from the light handicap (51kg after Iskandar Rosman’s 2kg claim).

Trainer Jason Lim’s Prestige Star is knocking on the door with seconds in his last two starts, but rising from Class 5 to Novice can be a big ask.

Speedy Buck rounded up his preparation for Saturday’s race with an impressive 600m hit-out in 41.1sec. Unextended, he finished with plenty in reserve.

“He pulled up good from that first run and I’m happy with the way he’s progressing,” said Ong.

“Of course, he’s still a young horse and he’s still learning, so that’s the reason I didn’t want to enter him for that 3YO series.

“I think he’s still raw and still has plenty of things to learn.

“I didn’t want to to enter that 3YO series as, if he’s drawn bad on the outside gate and he’s going to jump out and be caught wide and things like that, he won’t be learning anything from that race.

“So, he’s still a horse in the making and I would think he still needs (more) race experience to do everything right before he will improve himself.

“He’s obviously a horse with good enough ability, so I thought I don’t really want to rush him for the series. I would like to educate him more and make sure he’s doing things a lot better.

“I want him to be racing in a proper manner before I put him into the big races.”

Also the best bet of Brian Miller and Michael Lee, Speedy Buck will start at really short odds.