Friday, 3 August 2012: Singapore's champion sprinter Rocket Man has returned to work after injury ruled him out of the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint over 1200m in May.
 | My Brother
Photo by Singapore Turf Club | |
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Rocket Man 
, the winner of 20 of his 27 starts and more than $6.7 million in prizemoney, was withdrawn from the KrisFlyer with a swollen left front medial suspensory ligament.
However the seven-year-old looked a picture of health on Thursday morning as he spent 15 minutes trotting in the early stages of his latest preparation.
Trainer Patrick Shaw ordered the gelding to be shod on Monday in preparation for his latest campaign which will see him trot for the next 10 days before his work is upped with cantering on the different training tracks at the Singapore racecourse.
Vets gave Rocket Man the all-clear to resume work three weeks ago but Shaw decided to wait until this week to give his all-clear.
“I just wanted to give him some extra time to heal,” said Shaw. “His scans and X-rays all came back good and we'll press on.
“He's been trotting since Tuesday and he'll have that increased to two lots next week. In 10 days or so he will then start cantering.
“He can have a long slow build-up.”
Rocket Man didn't lose a lot of condition during his spell. He was taken for daily walks and was dappled up during his trotting exercise.
While Rocket Man takes the first steps back from an injury enforced lay-off, his half-brother – My Brother – had his first official trial on Thursday morning, winning it narrowly.
Ridden by Greg Cheyne, My Brother scored a three-quarter length victory in the time of 1 min 01.54sec.
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Shamardal , My Brother is a three-year-old, and just like Rocket Man, has been given plenty of time to adapt to the surroundings in Singapore.
My Brother arrived in Singapore in January. Shaw said the then two-year-old was a little on the small side and he had taken him along slowly and given him the chance to grow.
Still a colt, Shaw said it was time for My Brother to realise he was a racehorse and after recently passing his 400m jump-out it was decided now is the time to get a little more serious.
“It was just an educational hit-out for him but it's time that we started waking him up,” said Shaw.
“He's been up here and thinking it's just a big holiday.
“He would be going around the big track and get up to the turn and start pig-rooting and misbehaving, so now it's down to business.”
While My Brother was successful at his first trial, Shaw believed the colt would be even better with this preparation under the belt and is looking forward to the new year.
“He's got very similar characteristics as Rocket Man and I'm sure this trial will do him the world of good,” said Shaw.
“Hopefully he can be half as good as Rocket Man and I'll be happy. Lightning rarely strikes twice.”
Cheyne has done much of the work on My Brother and said he was a bit surprised the colt was able to win his first trial.
“He's been very playful in getting his way to this stage,” said Cheyne. “He's still a colt and he knows it.
“But I was certainly happy with the trial. He has progressed nicely and everytime we have asked him for a bit more he has given it.
“I didn't expect him to come out and win his trial. He travelled very well behind them and when I asked him for an effort he finished it off nicely.
“He's still got a way to go but he's coming along. We'll see how he comes out of this and then we'll take the next step, but I'm sure he's going to be even better next year as a late three-year-old.”
Cheyne didn't want to get caught up in comparisons with Rocket Man at this early stage.
“Let's judge him on who he is and not go on his reputation as being Rocket Man's half-brother,” said Cheyne.
