Sunday, 20 May 2012: It stands to reason with no Rocket Man to defend his Krisflyer throne due to injury the horse that beat him at Meydan is now the superman sprinter of the field.
Krypton Factor can make Bahranians proud by capturing the ninth race on the card, the S$1 million Krisflyer International over 1200m on the long course C turf track.
He closed like a caped crusader last start to win the G1 Golden Shaheen in fast time for the overall meeting and ran over the top of a very brave Rocket Man.
Once you take out the local champion the
Timeform 
rating after weight adjustment for today sees
Krypton Factor a colossal 143 or to put that into more perspective, he is 13 points ahead of the next best runner.
Fawzi Nass trains the gelding and Kieren Fallon will once again ride, with gate eight not a concern as there is pace galore inside him and the harder they go the harder they fail as he unleashes past them.
His form this year has been outstanding with five starts for three wins and two seconds, so he is in the twitch-fibre zone when it comes to sprinting.
Once thought to be a miler as a younger horse it is now as an out and out sprinter that his faster than a speeding bullet and stronger than a freight train finishes are getting rewarded.
The closest sprinter too him Timeform wise is the very good Better Be The One, which has placed behind Rocket Man in three of their four meetings.
Better Be The One could be part of an unbelievable weekend for trainer Michael Freedman, as before the meeting on Friday he had chances in all the four majors.
A galloping Grand Slam in a weekend would be an almost untouchable training feat.
After the weight adjustment we find Better Be The One is Timeform rated at 130 and alongside the big brash grey Captain Obvious.
The only time Better Be The One failed behind Rocket Man was in this race last year but with Joao Moreira aboard the omens look good.
Moreira rode last start into a good closing second behind Rocket Man in the G1 Lion City Cup and the big sprinter that was rather trim for that race, will be improved immeasurably.
The outside barrier of nine is unhelpful but I do think Better Be The One when ridden cold can produce his most withering finish.
Captain Obvious has won both his trials in preparation this month and the gargantuan grey that campaigned with credit in Dubai over January and February is ready to roar.
His record fresh up is a devastating four wins and a placing in six outings and as a sprinter has won six times at 1200m.
Oscar Chavez was the pilot in each Meydan start and retains the ride on the Team Burridge prepared flyer that will be trying to win his fifteenth race today from an ideal gate four.
Since the Krisflyer regained its mantle and became a G1 event and then part of the World Sprint Series, the winners have been the Australian marvel Takeover Target (2008), the pair of Hong Kong runners that each knocked off Rocket Man in Sacred Kingdom (2009) and Green Birdie (2010) and of course last year the local rocketstar.
The sprinting oomph from the Northern Hemisphere is not a feared commodity.
Mr Big for the Freedman stable is a young sprinter taking on his toughest test to date and under WFA conditions he will have to surpass his current Timeform weight adjusted rating of 129 to win.
A good draw of two however will have connections growing in confidence.
Perfect Pins can create history today as Leticia Dragon could become the first female to win the G1 race and it would be her first too as a trainer on her own.
The underrated sprinter finished third in the race last year and after a super resumption second under 59kg he is not without a hope.
He has won twice second up and meets his conqueror Yin Xin fresh up a hefty 6kg better off and that is a serious weight swing at this level.
Secret Asset and Invincible Ash both have a 128 weight adjusted Timeform rating and look up against it.
The latter ran okay last start in the G1 Al Quoz won brilliantly by Ortensia but Captain Obvious has her covered and Better Be The One beat her home two out of three in Meydan.
Secret Asset has never won second up but will be improved by his eighth in the Al Quoz and has drawn the coveted ace.
He does have a G1 close second behind Tangerine Trees at Longchamp last October in his record so is not here making up the numbers at all.
Ato is very brave but at G1 under WFA I am not sure he can do what trainer Patrick Shaw expected with stablemate Rocket Man and that is win.
Yin Xin is in the same category in that he is fast and going places but this is a huge step up plus with just one start lifetime on turf and finishing second it is hard to imagine a G1 being your first turf victory.
The absence of Rocket Man has deflated the race significantly because he is the idol of Kranji and no easy races happen when he is running.
Krypton Factor can show his superior sprinting quality here.
I do like Better Be The One to get into the finish, while Captain Obvious will give a super sight as usual.
Perfect Pins is your instant headline maker if able to improve on his third last year.
Enjoy the feature sprint where six of the nine runners are locals all doing their darndest to maintain a rapidly developing and proud Singapore sprinting record.
