Friday, 22 June 2012: All indications lead to Indicio being able to beat an impeccable form runner in the feature sprint tonight that is the seventh race on the poly card.
Indicio in the S$75K Kranji Stakes C event over 1200m has the ability to win at 55kg with Joao Moreira atop just a gift that keeps giving for bettors.
The three-year-old in the Stephen Gray stable has upside and coming back to the 1200m this evening is very suitable as he is a sprinter only at this stage.
Last start he could not handle the 1400m of the G2 Singapore Classic won by Super Easy but prior he was G3 placed third behind the same unbeaten local star and Speedy Cat.
The son of Ishiguru until last start had not missed paying a dividend in his prior six starts that included three wins and one of them came on the poly.
He has been on the poly twice for a win and a debut second behind Tavan Bogd, with that latter effort seeing the third finisher poignantly a distant Dragon Spirit.
Indicio won his next start and beat Dragon Spirit, which has since raced seven times for four wins and three seconds and it blew away last start a Kranji Stakes C field.
Moreira will be atop for the first time this evening but his strike rate doing just that is incredible and tactically you know the promising gelding will be aided in keeping a fifty percent win record.
Certain stars at Kranji are formline or thread yardsticks and when runners come back in grade from meeting them and competing either with merit or not disgracing themselves, it should give you gambling gusto.
Obviously the local idol Rocket Man is your Mt Everest but Super Easy is certainly K2 and Gingerbread Man probably Mt Rushmore!
Indicio finished two and a half lengths from Super Easy two starts ago and second in that G3 race was the gifted Speedy Cat (7 starts for five wins and two seconds) so the form strength is as good as it gets for this age group.
Gate seven this evening in a field that has several early burners will allow Moreira to hopefully find some cover and then come over the top if the leaders soften up each other.
He may even try to get over close for a sit then be poised throughout to counter any tempo changes or attempted breathers.
The obvious picket fence formline of Birthday Gift drawn one stall inside Indicio means he is the other big player in the sprint but also a possible tow over early.
After a 2kg claim the Leslie Khoo trained four-year old that has raced six times (all on poly) for four wins and two placings is a top two must.
Khoo was third in the training premiership starting on Friday evening and just two wins from the co-leaders Laurie Laxon and Michael Freedman, with the latter stalled and the former on a roll.
Birthday Gift is a big fast sprinter and comes in here with a hattrick that makes spectacular reading from a form perspective plus the money that comes for him late can be confidently colossal.
His scalps in the hattrick are Dragon Spirit, which as shown above has been surging through the grades of late but notably Indicio beat it too, Grand Arrival (it beat Speedy Cat next start and then finished a game seventh to Gingerbread Man at G2 after that) and Valevole (next start blew away a Progressive field).
I do see Trudeau more suited tonight than last start when unable to mix it in the G2 Steward's Cup on turf over 1400m behind Gingerbread Man but not disgraced.
Prior he had placed and won on the poly, with the third coming in a Kranji Stakes C under 56.5kg behind a rival again here in Cash Dot Com.
He gave it 1.5kg and tonight is 1kg better off and has a nicer barrier draw though Cash Dot Com is racing well and can do work wide and keep running plus he loves the poly.
The win three starts ago by Trudeau in Class Three saw him easily beat Popi Popi and Travertine and that is sound enough all weather form.
Opie Bosson rides and he has been aboard once before with the result a third to the gifted Shuttle Man.
One for value in the field is the proven fresh up performer (two wins and two placings from four resumption outings) in Collect The Cash, a big horse that can manage the 58kg in this class.
He is having his first race for the Brian Dean stable having been in the Mark Walker yard previously and won a trial nicely earlier this month beating the handy Martincho Cat.
Two runs ago Collect The Cash finished a very brave second in a Kranji Stakes C on the poly over 1200m at 55kg to the smart Yin Xin (G3 placed then won an Open handicap afterwards before finding the G1 Krisflyer too hot).
On the poly he has raced six times for a win over the tough Ten Lai Lai in Kranji Stakes C and three placings plus a fourth and a last start seventh.
One of the placings came in a Benchmark 97 as did the fourth so he can get the money at this level no worries and an in form Stephen Baster rides.
The drop in field strength indicates Indicio can score once you factor in his upside and that Moreira is atop, while Birthday Gift could blow these out like candles on a cake if he gets a cheap lead.
Trudeau will enjoy the lesser opposition and I have a hankering Collect The Cash can see bettors doing just that tonight.
Enjoy the feature race.
