Sun Rectitude turns up the heat in trial

One of the fancied runners in that Class 5 race which opened the programme on March 12, Sun Rectitude was a course scratching after giving trouble in the stalls.

That day, he was fractious and reared when loaded.

Acing on veterinary advice, he was withdrawn from the race.

He was also found to be lame off-fore and was ordered to be sent for a starting stall test before being allowed to race again.

Well, that is now water under the bridge.

Sun Rectitude paid his dues on Tuesday morning and was cleared by both the starter and the vet.

That was after he won his trial in good fashion.

Ridden by Iskandar Rosman, Sun Rectitude was as obedient as they come when placed in barrier No. 1.

And when the gates flung open, he jumped away cleanly and led for the first 400m.

Then, at the 600m mark, he surrendered that spot to Missile Rain but still held his position nearest the rails.

It assured him the shortest route home and when it got serious at the furlong mark, the advantage paid off and he went on to beat Lucky Jinsha by a neck, with Jupiter Storm taking third, just a nose away.

One of trainer Desmond Koh’s many “Sun” horses, this one clocked 1min 1.08sec for the 1,000m trip.

A seven-year-old chestnut, he has been a busy boy, having already had three starts in the season.

However, the results could have been better.

Sun Rectitude’s last win was in May 2022. That was in a Class 5 sprint over the 1,200m.

It earned him a promotion but he never did enjoy Class 4 company.

Sent back to Class 5, his latest run produced a fourth and nice things were expected from him in that last run.

Well, that was then. With a rating of just 47, he is still plying his trade in Class 5 and as long as he is there, he could be worth a punt.

So, who did he beat?

Well, it was a horse with a rating of 95.

That was newly crowned 2022 Polytrack Horse Of The Year Lucky Jinsha.

As his rider Manoel Nunes will attest, he was hardly asked to do more than what was necessary to complete the trip.

On Tuesday, his time for the 1,000m was 1:01.13.

That is humble, especially when you roll back to that trial of his on Dec 29.

That day, he clocked 58.78sec.

In that latest hit-out, it became obvious from the get-go that it was not going to be “full steam ahead”.

With Nunes comfortable on the reins, Lucky Jinsha opted to take the scenic route home.

He stayed wide and most certainly covered more ground than the winner who managed to hug the rails throughout.

So, for the runner-up, there were no points lost.

Yes, Lucky Jinsha is a classy horse. The son of Shooting To Win has already won eight races and, to think, he is just a five-year-old.

Trained by Tim Fitzsimmons, he is going to win many more races in the colours of the Lucky Unicorn Stable.

Make him a horse to follow.