Two beauties hard to surpass
Surpass Natural should get his hat-trick tonight, Diamond Beauty will attract plenty of admirers on Sunday
One is destined to go far and the other is coming right.
Surpass Natural, unbeaten in both starts, makes the best bet in tonight's seven-race programme, while Diamond Beauty is ready to win the crown at Kranji on Sunday.
Prepared by last Sunday's Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy-winning trainer Leticia Dragon, Surpass Natural created a big impression on Day One of his career. His win was suggestive of a horse of top calibre - of one heading for better things.
In that May 31 debut, Surpass Natural blazed over the Polytrack 1,000m in 58.25sec to become the fastest Restricted Maiden winner at Kranji.
His time .05sec quicker than the class record achieved by El Padrino on Aug 7, 2011.
As we all know, El Padrino rose to the top class, accumulating 10 victories - three in Group 3 at Kranji - and the invitational Group 3 Asia Challenge Cup in Seoul, South Korea, in 2014.
Surpass Natural confirmed the class he showed by overcoming the dreaded second-run syndrome with another success in Class 4 over 1,200m on turf in 1min 10.40sec on July 5.
We come to know from that race that Surpass Natural possesses the traits of a genuine thoroughbred - he is not one-dimensional and he handles both turf and Polytrack surfaces.
The Australian-bred gelding, who turned four yesterday, showed abundant speed by leading all the way on the Poly in his first appearance.
He then came from behind to score on turf. The win was full of merit, as Surpass Natural appeared a beaten horse at the top of the straight, after having to race wide. He had too much catching to do.
But, once jockey John Powell clicked him up, Surpass Natural stepped into a higher gear. With a bit of luck, he just managed to get up to win by a head.
With the second-run syndrome behind him and further improvement, Surpass Natural should prove too good for his Class 4 Division 2 rivals over the Poly 1,200m in tonight's penultimate race.
Racegoers also need to hold on to their horses on Sunday for another top bet - Diamond Beauty is running in the last of eight races.
The Cliff Brown-trained Australian-bred mare might not have finished in the money from four Kranji starts, but she was not totally disgraced in all.
She finished smack-up behind the winners with some bad-luck stories - either racing wide, checked or baulked for a run. She was also drawn awkwardly wide in her last three starts.
You could see that Diamond Beauty is improving with each race and she has found the right race to open winning accounts. Sunday's Class 4 Division 1 race is not the strongest. The 1,400m suits her at the moment.
Back home in Australia, Diamond Beauty was a super consistent galloper. From eight starts, she had a win (1,300m), a second and five thirds.
This proves she is a horse with ability
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