Tan the man at barrier trials

Race days are usually a low-key affair for Jerome Tan, but the May 2 barrier trials saw two of his horses hog the limelight.

Single Warrior and newcomer Big Union took out the first two heats from the three trials at that quiet Kranji morning session.

Tan had no runner in the third, which was won by David Kok’s Pacific Dream.

In his usual unassuming style, the Singaporean trainer was not reading too much into wins or 100 per cent strike rates that do not alter his bottom line.

“They are just trials,” he said.

Among the 16 trainers left, Tan currently holds the second-lowest win percentage at 4.8 per cent – six winners from 126 runners.

One of them, Tantheman, brought up his 100th Singapore win on March 9, and in his sixth season.

Currently in Macau, Tan is not expecting fireworks, let alone further milestones from his stable of 18 horses – mostly Class 4 and 5 dwellers – in the five months left before racing shuts down on Oct 5.

Every win is a bonus, but he was still pleased his patience was showing results, even in mock races – especially for Single Warrior.

The Swiss Ace four-year-old was sidelined for one year after a tendon injury.

He has yet to break through in seven starts, let alone run a place, but did show some signs of ability at two closing fourths – once for his previous handler Jason Ong (who trained him at his first three starts) and once for Tan.

It remains to be seen whether Single Warrior can make further headway after such a setback and protracted interruption.

With not much time left, his scope is limited, but Tan was just glad he has brought him back, for a start.

“He did his tendon. We just had to rest him and let him recover,” he said.

“He seems to have come good. I haven’t picked a race for him yet, but after two trials, it should be soon.”

At his first barrier trial back on April 18, Single Warrior took it easy with Ryan Curatolo up, but was a lot more on the ball at the second one.

Back aboard, Curatolo had him tracking up three joint leaders before cuddling him towards a soft win in 1min 1.48sec, one length clear of the unraced Fight To Win (Krisna Thangamani).

In the next heat, Big Union replicated his first barrier trial run on April 18 by sitting in the box-seat for Bernardo Pinheiro. He then coasted to second place when Citygold Lightning (Curatolo) swept on by.

In the second one, the Brazilian jockey was a lot more pushy upon straightening.

He had to ride the Zoustar three-year-old out in order to get the better of Geobels Glory (Curatolo) inside the last 100m.

“This new horse has been with me for a while,” said Tan.

“He came to us just before the announcement about the closure (June 5). He’s taken some time to acclimatise, but he’s okay now.”

He had only one unplaced start as On The Amazon at the Sunshine Coast in November 2022 before Tan acquired him for the Cat Racing Stable.

Again, no Kranji debut date has been pencilled in yet, but, meanwhile, Tan has put together a small but decent team of five for the May 4 meeting.

They are no standouts, but none are in to make up the numbers either, especially the vastly-improved Cheerful Baby in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden (1,200m).

“I’m not expecting much, but I was happy to see Cheerful Baby finally improve at his last start,” said Tan.

The Brazen Beau three-year-old had finished mostly at the rear in eight runs, but was a lot more forward at his last start in a Class 5 race (1,200m) on April 21.

After showing the way for Pinheiro, he was being hailed the winner when he skipped two lengths clear upon cornering.

But See Yah (Bruno Queiroz) had other ideas, reeling him in for a one-length victory.

manyan@sph.com.sg