3 minute read
Trainer Tan Kah Soon is under no illusion Magic Wand may still need the mileage this Saturday, but just to see him make further headway at his second start from a long break would make his day.
At his first run after a nine-month layoff, the Star Witness six-year-old was clearly not 100% ready, but still ran a decent race to finish seventh just over three lengths off smart four-year-old Rocket Star.
It was in a Class 3 race over 1200m on turf on October 25. He is back racing in similar company two weeks later, and over the same trip, but on Polytrack.
Magic Wand has yet to score in nine starts for Tan, but landed in his yard with four wins (1200m to 1600m, and evenly spread between turf and Polytrack), coming for a variety of trainers namely Ricardo Le Grange (two), Lee Freedman (one) and Bruce Marsh (one).
Tan seems to have, however, sized up the Jeffrey Soh-owned galloper well enough to suggest it won't be long before he joins the list.
"At his first race back, he was still fat. I'm hoping for an improved run at his second run," said the Godolphin-trained handler who honed his early craft with his father, now-retired Penang trainer Dr Tan Swee Hock.
"He's quite a big horse at 550kgs, he needs more racing to get fit. He's also not an easy horse to keep sound as he has a few niggling issues.
"He's a very courageous horse, though. Last year, first-up, he showed a lot of courage to run a genuine race (fifth less than two lengths off Aramco)."
Tan said he had not charted any specific path for Magic Wand, other than to let him find his own rhythm and hopefully hit the form that made him an early sensation two to three seasons ago.
"I haven't planned anything major for him. I'll just let him race on, and probably look at a Class 3 race on turf next," said Tan who has booked apprentice jockey Krisna Thangamani on Magic Wand.
Earlier in the year, the pair combined for Krisna's first big-race success aboard Nowyousee in the Group 3 New Year Cup (1200m).
On the other hand, Tan has laid out an ambitious programme for the O'Reilly six-year-old, who is also raced by Soh's Titanium Racing Stable, bolstered no end by his eye-catching third to Inferno in the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) on October 25.
The grand final for Nowyousee comes up next Sunday, the $250,000 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy for his first test over 1400m. It's a handicap feature Tan famously won with Clarton Super within a few weeks of his debut as a trainer at Kranji back in 2017.
Interestingly, for the ride on Nowyousee, Tan has booked the same jockey who was part of that memorable milestone to his then-budding career, Malaysia's multiple-champion jockey Azhar Ismail.
"We expected a good race from Nowyousee in the Lion City Cup. Obviously, his form is better on Polytrack, but last year, he ran well in the Rocket Man Sprint," he said.
"He was drawn wide but he flew home. I've got a happy horse and he's going into the EW Barker at a good weight.
"If the topweight Jupiter Gold runs, and depending on what weight he gets, Nowyousee will be on around 53.5 to 54.5kgs, which means (Lion City Cup partner) Noh (Senari) can't make the weight and that's why I booked Azhar.
"Azhar is not showing his age and is riding as well as ever. All the other jockeys are booked up already anyway, but you can't beat experience and we're very happy to have him on Nowyousee.
"He's won many races for us, including the EW Barker Trophy itself on Clarton Super. The horse came out for a gallop today and he seems happy with himself.
"It's been 10 days since the Lion City Cup and there are 11 days to the EW Barker Trophy. The timing for the gallop was perfect, everything has fallen into place.
"Noh rode him and was happy with him, so did Jimmy (Wong Chin Chuen) in a gallop on Monday."
To Tan, the distance query is half-answered by the way the former speed squib has adapted so well to waiting tactics.
"Daniel Moor, Jimmy and Marc Lerner have all said the same thing. He can sit," said Tan.
"He doesn't have to chase the stupid speed. Last time if he drew two or three on Poly he would go forward, but I've always thought he was not a one-trick pony and he's proven in the Lion City Cup he can take a sit.
"After the EW Barker, I'll put him away and then bring him back for another shot at the New Year Cup, hoping the race is still on (racing calendar for 2021 is not out yet).
"It's a very competitive EW Barker this year. There are some very good horses in it, like Rocket Star, I've always told Ricardo I liked that horse.
"I won that race at my first year, and it was great, but I'm going in this year, not thinking too much about it. Every race means a lot to me these days."
Tan has been among the last to pick up a win since racing resumed during the Circuit Breaker on July 11. He had to wait until September 19 to pad up his score from four to five winners with Superten.