3 minute read

Trainer James Peters may have taken the cautious route with Last Supper before the $110,000 Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint on Saturday but was hopeful it would be the right one for the 1200m assignment.

The son of Grunt has not raced since finishing second to Wins One in a Class 4 Division 1 race (1200m) on 11 February. While Peters was tempted to give him one more run before Saturday's feature race, he thought "fresh was best" given Last Supper  can take a few days to get over a tough run.

"He's not the most robust horse," said Peters on Tuesday.

"After his last run in February, he left a bit of feed in the morning and took a few days to get over the run fully.

"We could have given him another run in Class 4 in preparation for this (3YO Sprint) as we had plenty of time, but if he had a tough run and took a few days or even a week to get back on track, then that wouldn't be ideal.

"So we took the cautious approach to give him every opportunity to show his best at his first Group race.

"He can always go back to Class 4 races if things don't go to plan in the Group races.

"It's not an exact science but we think his preparation had been a good one and he's 100% going into Saturday."

Although his two wins and one placing from three starts were over 1200m, Peters believed that Last Supper will be better over longer with the Group 2 Singapore 3YO Classic (1400m) and the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1600m) right up his alley.

"The trip may be too sharp for him on Saturday," he continued.

"His wins were over 1200m but to be honest, I always thought he would be better over the 1400m and the mile.

"I could be wrong but he looks that type, so whatever happens on Saturday - hopefully he can win - I'm looking forward to see him step up in distance.

"They had an opinion of this horse back in Australia when he was in pre-training and we liked him the moment he came to our stable.

"He is maturing as a horse and is more settled in his work, which is a good sign."

The Singapore 3YO Classic will be run on 27 April while the Singapore Guineas is set to be held on 18 May.

Of his preparation leading into Saturday, Peters was impressed with his trial win last Thursday, where he won in 1 min 1sec under race jockey Ryan Curatolo.

"I thought his trial last Thursday was good," explained the dapper English conditioner of the Yu Long Stable-owned gelding.

"Ryan was happy and also pleased with his easy work this morning.

"I can't fault the way he is going, so all systems go."

Peters will wait for the barrier draw on Wednesday before going into the nuts and bolts of race tactics, but he was also wary of the small field of nine and the quality of the opposition.

"I was surprised there were only nine entries, but we would still like to draw a nice gate," he said.

"I won't give instructions, but it would be nice if Ryan could box-seat him from an inside gate.

"Obviously if we draw wide, we would take a different approach, but Ryan is riding in great form so I'll leave it up to him.

"It looks to be a very good field but if I had to pick the danger, it would be Bakeel."

Trained by Steven Burridge, Bakeel won at his last start in a Novice race (1400m) on 17 March when ridden by jockey Manoel Nunes.