The feature race tonight looks a battle of the big boys or more precisely the only two Group winners in the field.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The S$150K Yew Tee Classic over 1800m on the poly is the seventh event and Flying Fulton a triple G3 winner will be giving 2kg to Fatkid, a G2 and G3 winner.
Flying Fulton has won at 1900m on the poly so does not have any trip concerns and it came in the G3 New Year Cup under 58kg and he beat a decent sort in Lizarre that had 1.5kg less.
Lizarre of course had six weeks earlier finished a super second in the G1 Singapore Gold Cup under 50kg behind the threepeat marvel El Dorado.
The poly record of Flying Fulton is four wins and three placings in nine starts with a close fourth and an average sixth the non-dividend paying efforts.
Jose Verenzuela has been atop Flying Fulton once for a third in the G1 Patrons Bowl (1600m) last year on turf beaten less than a length by Speed Baby and Better Than Ever.
Nobody gets horses travelling better on the all weather than Verenzuela and he is a major plus for mine on the poly for the 2012 Yew Tee Classic running.
I felt the Mark Walker trained five-year-old was an eyecatching resumption sixth in the Open 1400m on turf won by the rising star Red Beard in slick time.
He copped some crowding early with an apprentice aboard and ran on gamely plus I like that there was more than a nibble of support for him.
Second up he has a win and a placing and 58kg for such a strapping five-year-old son of Flying Spur out of a Zabeel dam will make the task seem very passable.
Last campaign second up on poly at 1800m he finished second to New Rose Wood and carried 58kg.
The remarkably durable Black Ice now they can get some regular racing into him rails up better than a greyhound and on the poly is three wins from four outings.
Why couldn't he manage 1800m tonight for the first time?
He won at a mile two starts ago for the rider again atop in Matt Kellady and he had paint marks on his left leg such was the fence-hugging ride he gave the Team Burridge prepared mount.
It was a dawdle and sprint home mile and Black Ice is just as lethal in a hard run event when he unleashes, so his kick is guaranteed no matter the tempo.
Fatkid was never a hope settling down last in the same mile that Black Ice won and he carried 58kg in a sprint home.
However to underline what sort of shape he is in the gelding was getting warmed up late okay and tonight down to 56kg with a good draw I expect to see a different outcome.
Oscar Chavez rides and he was aboard two starts ago when a big finishing second in an open mile behind Arowana Dot Com albeit on turf.
If they run this at a half decent pace Fatkid can wisely not spend a penny throughout then come with a pounding burst to get the thick end of the hefty stake.
Hideyuki Takaoka won this race last year, when it was held on turf, with a fresh up for nine weeks El Dorado under 57kg and he defeated Parfumier and Flying Fulton.
He can win it again with Mitre Peak drawn well and carrying 54kg but will need to get a last shot at them.
Alan Munro gets back atop again and this is crucial as he was the last winner aboard and it came in a 2000m on turf under 54kg beating none other than Gingerbread Man.
The next start by Mitre Peak saw it end up a solid finishing fourth on the poly with 3kg less than the runner up Flying Fulton.
This evening he gets the same gap hence why the topweight is rather well situated looking at the overall picture.
Mitre Peak though has too good a poly record (three wins and seven placings) to leave out of the multiples here.
The three-year-old Super Guru likes poly and has won at 1700m on the all weather.
The way the Joy N Happiness Stable is going they can capture anything with a smile.
Leslie Khoo the trainer is currently in second equal place on 38 wins in the premiership with Michael Freedman and the leader by two is the doyen Laurie Laxon.
Pat Shaw has three runners and all could either make the pace or sit poised but then again rivals will be awake to this tactic tonight regarding tempo control by one team and some heat could come from an unlikely source or two.
Do not be surprised if Verenzuela is unafraid to go forward early if trapped wide as he is on the best enforcer in the field that can work more than once in the running.
The blowout could be Knights Command as his best effort since coming to Singapore was a fifth beaten a couple of lengths over a mile on the poly two runs ago.
Last start he found the G1 Patron's Bowl (1600m) on turf a bit much behind Ato but he was far from disgraced being beaten eight lengths.
Bruce Marsh can turn them around quickly once he finds a suitable race for them but can also produce an upset and with Ivaldo Santana (the forgotten Brazilian no more in Singapore) atop it could happen.
Santana is an impressive fifth in premiership with 24 wins and he is ahead of some much bigger names.
The Yew Tee Classic does look a Flying Fulton benefit and Fatkid is the other quality performer I see as offering a very robust challenge the closing stages, if the race is not just a sprint home.
Mitre Peak may be some value for the multiples with a soft draw as Alan Munro does suit the Takaoka stamina runners.
Enjoy the heavyweight bout.
