Suns shine on muggy morning

It was drizzly, damp and a tad overcast in most parts of Singapore yesterday morning.

But, breaking through the clouds over the Kranji Racecourse, the sun was up.

Well, not the solar kind but the "sun" as in the names of the brightest of the horsey set who were out doing work on that muggy morning.

Sun Rectitude, from Desmond Koh's yard, was glowing while the Lee Freedman-trained Sun General was another lively worker at dawn.

Still looking for a win after six outings, Sun Rectitude had Noh Senari on board when sent out for a gallop with Sun Dream.

Taking off from the 600m mark, Sun Rectitude was pulling away from his stablemate at the end of the gallop which he covered in 36.4sec.

As for Sun General, he had Joseph Azzopardi doing the navigating when he disposed of the 600m in 35.8sec.

While in opposing camps, both "suns" are owned by the Sun Bloodstock Racing Stable.

In recent times, they've been stocking up the barns at Kranji with quality horseflesh and, while both Sun Rectitude and Sun General have yet to score, they have been working conscientiously towards that goal.

Sun Rectitude has already shown promise, finishing runner-up twice.

It was in July that we saw the potential in him. That day, in a Class 4 sprint over 1,200m on grass, Sun Rectitude found one to beat in Strap Marks.

And in his very next start three weeks later, Salamence proved too smart. With the winner of that race decided - Salamence went on to win by almost five lengths - Sun Rectitude fought on doggedly to hold off Ararat Lady and take that second spot.

Last time out, when racing on the Poly, nothing went right for him and he finished in midfield - after being obliged to race wide for most of the trip.

He's back on the turf on Friday and, over the slightly longer trip of 1,400m, he could break his Maiden status. It's long overdue.

As for Sun General, it was slightly over a year ago that he ran his best race to date, narrowly beaten by Sacred Sea over the 1,800m. He then seemed to hit a brick wall.

In Arpil, and after finishing ninth of 12 runners in an 1,800m race, Freedman gave his charge a break and it was six months later - on Oct 4 - that he brought him back.

In a 1,200m race, which was hardly his cup of tea, he lounged at the rear, took in the scenery, and stayed there for the entire trip. Forget that run.

Sun General is slowly working towards a win - and it could come sooner rather than later.

But one who could break through as early as Friday night is Meryl.

From James Peters' yard, she too had a hit-out on the training track yesterday, running the 600m in 39.4sec.

One of the Oscar Racing Stable's fine string of horses, the filly is by Rock N Pop.

It was last Friday that we saw an offspring of Rock N Pop - Autumn Assault - score a five-length, record-breaking win over the 1,100m.

If Meryl is half as good, she should have the beating of this field of three-year-olds in the Restricted Maiden event over the 1,400m.

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GUIDE TO YESTERDAY'S KRANJI TRACKWORK

WORKOUTS BY*ORSES ENGAGED ON FRIDAY

CLASS 3 - 1,100M

Surpass Natural* (J Powell) 43.5. Nationality* 38.1. Calculation (A Collett) 40.5. Flak Jacket (Powell) 37.3. Lord O'Reilly 35.8. Sun Dream (JP van der Merwe) 36.4. Pace work: Walking Thunder.

MONDAY: Elite Remarkable 37.8. Kiss Your Song* (M Kellady) 37.7. Ararat Lady* 37.5. Axel (MM Firdaus) canter/36.1.

CLASS 4 (1) - 1,400M

Star Empire (Powell) 44.8. Quadcopter* (M Lerner) 37.4. Julius Caesar* 44.1. Sun General* (J Azzopardi)35.8. My Friends 35.2. Atlantean (Collett) 43.9.

MONDAY: Keng Mak Mak (Merwe) 36.4. Lim's Passion* (B Woodworth) 39.8.

Super Tycoon 38.4. Magnum Force 37.7. Gold Crown 38.1. Siam Sapphire (S Shafrizal) 45.

CLASS 4 (2) - 1,400M

Bartimaeus G (V Duric) 38.6. Turf Princess (Powell) 37.1. Unprecedented* 43.1.

MONDAY: Murrayfield 42.2. Inherit* (R Zawari) 35.5. Sohi Class* 37.7. Blitz Power (N Zyrul) 38.8.

CLASS 4 (3) - 1,400M

Buddy Buddy* 41.1. Crown Gift* canter/38.2. Lord Of Cloud* 39.5. Basilisk* 36.6. Sun Rectitude* (S Noh) 36.4. Lim's Ray 45. Super Emperor (J See) 37.1. Silver Joy (Collett) 38.7.

MONDAY: Billy Britain 37.5. Eastiger (Collett) 38.9.

Pace work: Gold Faith.

CLASS 5 - 1,600M

Heng Kingdom 45.6. Sun Spear (Merwe) 36.9. Flying Yellow 39.1. Victory Joy (Lerner) 36.7. Vesontio 39.

MONDAY: Hidden Promise (CK Ng) 36.8. Lim's Rhythm (Woodworth) 36.7. Kubera's Chief* 38.1. Gold Kingdom 37.3. Lucky Tiger 38.7. Summer Glitter 37.6.

CLASS 5 (1) - 1,000M

Asia Spirit (T Rehaizat) barrier/35.8. Winner Number One* 37.1. Colour Paint* (Zyrul) 38.8.

CLASS 5 (2) - 1,000M

My Win (Powell) 39.3.Hooga Net (TH Koh) 38.4. Agni 37.1. Top Banana 37.5.

MONDAY: Invincible Man (Z Zuriman) 38.1.

OPEN MAIDEN - 1,400M

Supreme Infinity* (Noh) 36.9. Joyful Aspiration (Zuriman) 35.3. Mr Rockwell 41.2. All Of Everything 41.4. Assassin (Collett) 39.2. Titanium Force 38.1.

MONDAY: Sayonara 36.8. Lim's Leader (WH Kok) 39.5. Apollo Rock 37.7. Valencia 37.7.

RESTRICTED MAIDEN - 1,400M

Mr Alejandro* 40.2. Strong N Powerful* (J See) 41.2. Mister Dynamo 41.2. Tobruk* (Azzopardi) 38.6. Kruger* (Kellady) 37.3.

Meryl* 39.4. Beauty Spirit 35.3. Aliceinwonderland canter/40.3.

MONDAY: Mercurial Turn (Shafrizal) 38.4. Stormy View (T Krisna) 38.9.