3 minute read
English import Minister might have made his Kranji debut in the first Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, but the full series is not what he is being aimed at.
It might have been if time had been on the side of the Street Sense four-year-old known as Bye Bye Hong Kong at his previous UK racing career under top English trainer Andrew Balding for the King Power Stable.
From this year onwards, the series of which the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) is the grand prize, was moved three months earlier – from June-July to February-April.
Minister , who is still raced by King Power, landed in Singapore around three weeks after the goal sticks were officially shifted on October 1, 2019.
With a shorter buffer to work with for the Thai-owned gelding, trainer Lee Freedman had to reshuffle his plans and play it by ear. He is entered in the second Leg, the Group 2 Stewards Cup (1600m) next Friday, but Freedman is electing for an alternative path. As for the Derby, it would be just a bonus if he gets there.
"Notionally, he was a miler in England. Based on that, he could be a Derby horse, but we'll have to see how things pan out for him," said the Australian handler.
An unplaced first-up run to Bold Thruster in the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m) on February 29 confirmed his fears that the Listed Windsor mile winner was not fully screwed down.
The firm underfoot conditions were another negative.
"It hasn't been the simplest of tasks to get him ready, especially when the 4YO series was moved. That upset our plans, similarly for the 3YO series (Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge which was pretty much swapped with the 4YO series)," said Freedman.
"It's hard to get these English horses ready. He got held up in quarantine and he was behind time.
"We had to rush him, he had two trials (ran second). We didn't set out to run him in the first Leg, but it came up, so it was more 'shoot and see', unfortunately it didn't quite work out.
"He ran well but he got the stitch in the end. He felt the ground and got jarred up.
"Those UK horses are not suited by the new environment here. They have problems settling with the track and the heat, even if I must say he did get used with the heat quite well.
"Because of the track, I'm thinking of running him in a Polytrack race for Class 3 at the end of the month (over 1600m on March 27)."
Two weeks after the Kranji debut, Freedman could see encouraging results from the regrouping strategy at his barrier trial win under new partner John Powell on Thursday.
"We had to give him a good hit-out this morning as he needs some pressure. He won but let's not forget it was also made up of Class 4 horses," said Freedman.
Powell jumped off happy with the way Minister went through his gears at a steady rhythm after dictating from start to finish.
"He went well, he travelled well throughout. At the top of the straight, I slipped him some more rein and he hit the line nicely," said the Australian jockey.
"It was a smart trial. I didn't look back to see by how far he won."
After keeping up with the early pace from the start, the Desmond Koh duo of Asia Spirit (Marc Lerner) and Northern Sun (track rider) were left standing when Minister drew clear. Tax Free (Saifudin Ismail) ran on late to grab second place three and a half lengths behind.