Leading trainer Laurie Laxon unearthed a promising type at Singapore on Friday night, with debutant Helen saluting in the second event.
The half-sister to the 2011 Singapore Derby winner Flint, Helen proved quite impressive when leading throughout.
With only 49.5kg on her back, Helen travelled strongly entering the straight and gave a good kick to draw two lengths clear — passing the 300m.
HelenThe third placed Delfyne finished a further three-and-a-half lengths back, further strengthening Helen's performance.
Helen recorded comparatively the quickest time of the night on the polytrack and recorded time figures ahead of the bare form.Using standard times, Helen was marked well above an average maiden winner and is bred to only improve when tried over further.
Spun Gold
Although unable to reel in the Alvin Tan trained Faithfully, the Cliff Brown trained Spun Gold continues to raise the bar this time in.
Hitting the line strongly to be narrowly beaten in the sixth event, the son of Hard Spun was easily the performance of the race.Bettering his career peak by five pounds, Spun Gold has now improved 16 pounds this time in — an impressive ratings profile, to say the least.
Given the slow tempo of the event, it further enhanced the strength of Spun Gold's performance.The leader and eventual victor, Faithfully, recorded a slick closing sectional of 33.73 seconds — more than two lengths inside standard.
Spun Gold was close to three lengths off the lead passing the 600m, highlighting his powerful finish.The now four-year-old averaged 11.24 second - furlongs for the last 800m and under the circumstances was a huge performance.
Stepping out for just his eighth start on Friday, Spun Gold is clearly open to further improvement .If placed in a race with a stronger tempo, he should take a power of beating at his next start.
QuechuaFormerly based in Argentina, Quechua boasted quite the handy resume, having placed in Group 1 company and was a Group 2 winner at three.
A clear stand-out from a form perspective, Quechua was well supported at his first three starts in Singapore, to no avail.Going down as the odds-on favourite on two occasions, Quechua made amends on Sunday, with leading rider Corey Brown giving him a peach of a ride from the rails draw.
Quechua travelled strongly throughout and when asked to extend in the straight he displayed a sharp turn of foot to race away and score by three lengths.Though favoured by the slow tempo, Quechua's closing sectional was quite remarkable, marked over nine lengths inside standard.
Successful in recording a new peak in Singapore, Quechua still appears open to further improvement on his prior form in Argentina.Earmarked as a Singapore Gold Cup chance, Quechua will obviously have to improve on his performance on Sunday, however he appears to be heading in the right direction.
HughsyAn eye-catcher behind Spun Gold last start, the son of Henny Hughes notched up his third victory from just four starts.
Improving eight pounds on his previous best, Hughsy overcame a moderate tempo, working home powerfully over the 1400m journey.Recording a closing sectional marginally inside standard, strengthened the performance, along with the decent beaten margins in the event — almost four lengths back to fourth.
These lightly raced improvers are the gallopers worth following in Singapore and Hughsy definitely fits the mould.More improvement appears in store, along with more wins.
