You Rokk has all the right moves

With the clock counting down - and it is not about the New Year - Lee Freedman stayed in the news when the bulk of his seven horses entered for the first meeting of 2021 showed up on the training track yesterday morning.

After 3½ years in Singapore, the Australian Hall of Famer will pack up and leave Kranji on March 1 to train at the Gold Coast.

But, Freedman being Freedman, do not expect him to go quietly. As long as there are things to do, he will soldier on.

So it was business as usual on the training track. And, from out of the morning mist, there was You Rokk - among others - strutting out his stuff.

With A'Isisuhairi Kasim doing the steering, the last-start winner served notice of his intentions with a fluent gallop over 600m in 35.6sec.

You could say, and you would not be wrong, You Rokk really rocked.

A winner of two races from just 11 starts, his last success on Dec 5 was something to savour.

Although taking on Class 2 rivals, including 90-point raters like Altair and Sacred Rebel, You Rokk was not the least bit intimidated.

Dead last when they made that first left-hander in the 1,100m Poly race, he came alive in the run home. When A'Isisuhairi pressed the buttons, there was nothing the others could do but watch him zip by.

For owner Tony Torcasio, waiting for that second win was a long time between drinks. More than a year, actually. But now that he is firing, You Rokk deserves all the respect.

Sure, he meets some tremendously talented horses in that Kranji Stakes "A" race on Sunday. But, with Skywalk (58kg), Excelling (56.5kg) and Muraahib (55kg) giving him weight, You Rokk - with just 52kg - could make that feather on his back work to his advantage.

Freedman's Yulong Express has not won a race since July last year - but it has not been from lack of trying.

Indeed, in the space of those 17 months, he has posted two seconds. On two other occasions, he made the board, finishing fourth.

He was another of the Freedman pack to make good time yesterday. Taken out by A'Isisuhairi, he clocked 37.5sec for the 600m trip.

Last time out, in early November, Yulong Express did not have any luck in the running. He had to be steadied just after the start and, for 200m - between the 600m and the 400m marks - he was held up and cramped for running room.

Still, he chugged along to finish sixth - three lengths behind the winner, Stormy View.

While not one of the pin-up horses in the Freedman yard, he has banked in close to $100,000 for the powerful Yu Long Stable and his work is not done yet.

Same, too, with Nationality, another of Freedman's star workers. He has got a stack of racing left in him and he worked like a good horse, running 600m in 36.2sec.

Last time out, he got his head up when jumping and lost ground. But he was running on like a train to finish a close second to Magic Wand.

He is the second of four "reserves" in Sunday's Class 3 sprint over the flying 1,000m.

Should he get a spot in the starting gates, you might want to have a punt on him.

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KRANJI STAKES A - 1,200M

Skywalk (M Nizar) barrier/35.5. Surpass Natural * (R Maia) 36.3. Nowyousee * (CC Wong) 42.9. Webster barrier/36.7. Pennywise (T Krisna) 36.3. You Rokk * (K A'Isisuhairi) 35.6. Rocket Star (B Woodworth) barrier/35.8. Lim's Samurai 43.5.

CLASS 3 - 1,000M

Hugo * 37.3. Darc Bounty pace work. Nationality * 36.2. Siam Royal Orchid 41/36. Super Invincible * (R Iskandar) 36.6. Qaraat (JP van der Merwe) 40.6. Resolution * 37.4.

CLASS 4 - 1,600M

King's Speech 37.7. Glasgow 40.3. Romantic * 37. Sun Palace * (Iskandar) 38.8. Gold Reward * 37.7. Billy Britain (WW Cheah) 39.2. Born To Win 36.9. Sun Monarch 38. Baccarat canter/40.4. Sun Formation 34.8.

MONDAY: Gold City 40.5.

CLASS 4 (1) - 1,100M

Legend Of The Sun * 34.4. Khan * (L Beuzelin) 37.4. Yulong Express * (A'Isisuhairi) 37.5. Lady Sprintbok * barrier/35.3. Beauty Diva * 34.3. Try Mak Mak (Merwe) 43.4. Lord Justice canter/41.4. Wealth Elite (Wong) 40.1.

CLASS 4 (2) - 1,100M

Songgong Hera 41.8. It's Got It All (S John) 42.5. Proof Perfect 37.4. Tax Free * (I Saifudin) 39.4. Healthy Star * (Iskandar) 36.5. Mardoona * (Shafrizal) 37.4. Hyde Park (Cheah) 38.5.

CLASS 5 (1) - 1,600M

Per Incrown (Maia) barrier/35. Helushka * 37.8. Plato 36.9. Fiddlestick (Merwe) 38.1. Gold Kingdom * 40.2. Top Of The Line * 40.4. Coloniel Star (Saifudin) 39.4. Newton 38.9. Lim's Rhythm barrier/35.9.

CLASS 5 (2) - 1,600M

Little Master 42.6. Nadeem Sapphire 36.8. High Limit * (Saifudin) 37.2. Lady Stuning * (Merwe) 37.2. Bencoolen (Cheah) 40.5. Qilin Top Form 36.9. Qingdao 38.1. Official * canter/36.2. Zoffspeed 37.7. Pegasus Junior * 37.4. Crown Delight 42.7.

CLASS 5 - 1,000M

Legend Rocks (John) 38.8. Boom Shakalaka * 39.5. Cizen Boss 40.9. Diamond Mine (Powell) barrier/36.4. King Midas (Woodworth) 34.4. Uncle Lucky (J See) 35.3. My Horse (Wong) 43.3.

OPEN MAIDEN - 1,200M

Dawning Gold 39.7. Show Royale (N Zyrul) 37.7. Travis (See) 38.5. Superior Coat (T Rehaizat) 38. 1. Phaxe 36.6. Boom Almighty (M Lerner) pace work. Burgundy Lad (Saifudin) 37.9. Lim's Oceanic (Rehaizat) barrier/37. Spearhead * (See) 35.3. Yes One Ball (Krisna) 36.6.

RESTRICTED MAIDEN - 1,200M

Mortal Engine * (Beuzelin) 37.3. Strong N Smart * (John) 40. Ironprince (Wong) barrier/35.4. Fighting Hero (Merwe) 38. Kwoi Hoi 40.3. Lim's Moreready barrier/37.1. Nate's Champion 41.6. Power Of Ifreeth 41/36. Rocket Ryane (Powell) 36.4. Supernatural 39.9.