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With two in three runners having drawn the widest gates in the $85,000 Class 2 race over 1100m on Sunday, trainer Jerome Tan could not hide his disappointment, especially towards Sacred Gift who gets his chance to score.

Six-time winner Sacred Gift will jump from the outermost gate 12 while newcomer Sacred King has drawn next to him in barrier 11. Tan's third runner, I Am Sacred will begin from gate seven.

The wide barrier might be a dampener, but the son of Zoustar looks well-placed at 52.5kgs after an encouraging fifth in the Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) on February 4.

Most of the field looked to be struggling at the weight-for-age conditions behind eventual winner Lim's Kosciuszko, but Sacred Gift 's honest form prior in similar-weighted affairs to Sunday's has him a live chance at a probable each-way quote.

"Drawn badly and that makes the job very difficult," said Tan of the highest-rated galloper among the Raffles Racing Stable-owned trio.

"My instructions to (jockey) Shafrizal (Saleh) will be to sit back and come home. There's not much else we can do from that gate.

"But there is a lot of early pace in the race with (trainer) Tim's (Fitzsimmons) horse (Illustrious) and I Am Sacred, so if Shafrizal can get an easy run with some cover, he will do his best late.

"I thought his (Scared Gift) run in the Merlion (Trophy) was good considering that he had to carry weight (57.5kgs), was caught wide and on the pace.

"So I thought he was a very good chance in this race as he was well handicapped but again, the wide barrier makes winning very hard."

Likewise, Tan thought that the bad draw on debut is a serious blow to Sacred King's chances. The seven-year-old son of Lord Kanaloa is making his debut in Singapore after winning nine times from 49 starts on the National Association of Racing (NAR) circuit in Japan.

"He (Sacred King) looks a go-forward type, so the gate hurts," explained Tan.

"(Jockey) Saifudin (Ismail) will have to play it by ear and see how the race pans out early.

"We just let him have a look at his (two) trials - the horse knows what he's doing – and if he gets any luck on Sunday from the barrier, he should be competitive in this type of race."

On the other hand, the middle gate was not so much of a concern for I Am Sacred, who has the minimum weight of 50kgs in his favour. The son of I Am Invincible has early pace to burn and from gate seven, jockey A'Isisuhairi Kasim would try to make every post a winner.

However, with another on-pace runner, Illustrious, drawn in barrier three, Tan said a lot will depend on the jump.

"His (I Am Sacred) only style is to go forward," continued the Singaporean conditioner.

"He will settle in the first three for sure but if Illustrious doesn't lead for whatever reason, we will lead.

"It's hard to fault his honesty – he always puts his best foot forward – but he finds it hard to win. Then again with the lightweight and if he gets a soft lead, who knows?"

Meanwhile, the famous Raffles Racing Stable silks will also be carried by another newcomer in Singapore, Sacred Command, in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1200m. Previously trained by Chris Waller, the five-year son of Epaulette has won three races in Australia.

"He (Sacred Command) will be better over the mile," said Tan.

"His three wins were over 1400m, 1500m and 1600m, so whatever happens on Sunday, he will improve from the run and over more ground.

"The race is tough too, so while he is working well, a competitive run in this field would be good going forward."