Walker's horses to the fore
Many among the three-time Singapore champion trainer's Saturday entourage impress at trackwork
Although it was a Saturday morning, the Kranji track was buzzing with training activities.
The 2020 Singapore racing season might be two weeks away, but the work still needs to be done in preparation for the new season which kicks off on New Year's Day.
The bulk of the gallops that kept clockers busy were those from Mark Walker and Michael Clements, the 2019 Singapore champion trainer and runner-up respectively.
Walker, who also won the title in 2015 and 2017, saddled 73 winners to Clements' 65.
Quite a number of Saturday's star performers were from the two in-form stables
From Walker's yard, those who caught the eye included smart debut runner-up Afalonhro, who sizzled over 600m in 33.6sec (see Saturday's track gallops below).
Walker, a five-time champion in his native New Zealand, is looking forward to another fruitful season.
He was not trigger-happy this year and saved some of his horses up for the new onslaught.
He has horses freshening up and there are quite a few horses that should start off well in the new season because they are back in the right grade.
"Some of those horses could have won another race if we'd pressed on. But you have to give them a break at some stage, rather than run them right through to the end of the season. I took the option of spelling them. They'll be ready to win again in the new year," he said.
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