Super Salute is back on track

That loss to Golden Monkey in the Fortune Bowl on Feb 11 must still hurt.

With his sterling record, Super Salute was fancied in many quarters to dominate the feature race.

But, as things turned out, Golden Monkey was in the zone.

He changed the script and, in the process, consigned Super Salute, the $24 second pick, into third spot.

His regular rider, Manoel Nunes, had done everything right and trainer Richard Lim had him as tight as a piano wire.

But, on the day, third place was all that he could muster – the meat in the sandwich being Street Of Dreams.

Well, someone had to lose. But, having won more than half of his 17 race starts at Kranji – nine to be exact – Super Salute would have had many in the game licking their wounds after that defeat.

However, and for trainer Lim and the Alan John Stable, all that is now water under the bridge and, from what we saw at the trials on April 9, Super Salute is ready to fight another battle.

The son of I Am Invincible was, well, invincible on April 9 when trialled over the short and sharp 1,000m.

Sure, he was also in good hands as Nunes was up there to guide him along.

However, as we have seen so often with Super Salute, he did not need to be guided. He knew the way around a racetrack and he knew that the most important place was the finish line.

So, that was where he headed from the get-go and although he had some dirt kicked back on him by Valerie, he took it all in his stride. He got rid of the problem when the small field of five straightened out for the run home.

Angling out for a clear and unobstructed run to the line, Super Salute was truly in his element and up in the saddle, Nunes – hardly touching him with the persuader – allowed him to do his thing.

Halfway down the stretch and the gap just kept getting wider.

For once, and to her credit, Valerie – without a win after 10 outings at Kranji – did put up some sort of resistance but eventually, she too waved the white flag.

Street Of Dreams fashioned a run 100m out, but it was a case of too little too late. Super Salute – his head up and still full of running – was home and hosed, clocking 59.8sec for the trip.

Lim would have been pleased – but not the least bit surprised.

His charge had done the job and, now, with the rough edges seemingly ironed out, Lim can give himself a pat on the back for getting Super Salute to peak at his first-up assignment, the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1,400m) coming up next week on April 21.

After all, he is the defending champion and it would indeed be sweet revenge if he could, like he did in 2023, beat that old nemesis, Golden Monkey.

Earlier in the first trial of the morning, Smart One had us wondering if the connections had the name right.

The Stubborn One would have been more appropriate.

Having a starting stall test, he instead “tested” the patience of the attendants. He put on a show, backing off, digging his hooves in and refusing to play fair.

It eventually took plenty of muscle power – and, possibly, a string of swear words – to get him into his chute.

However, once loaded, the drama ended. Smart One broke cleanly and his rider, Ruan Maia, quickly got him into a rhythm.

Gold Medal Rose, a filly from trainer Mahadi Taib’s yard, had got the jump on the rest and she led the field of five to that first left-hander.

However, her fun in the sun faded at the 600m mark when Smart One swept to the front.

Right there and then it was game over and it was on a loose rein that the son of Snitzel romped in by 3¾ lengths from Strong Ace and Gold Medal Rose.

The shenanigans aside, Smart One – who covered the trip in a leisurely 1min 1.49sec – passed his “test” and it is now up to trainer David Kok to find a winnable sort of race for his four-year-old who, after 11 starts desperately needs to break that Kranji duck.

brian@sph.com.sg