An encouraging performance first up leaves the Michael Freedman trained Holy Empire well placed to return to the winner's stall, when set to contest the fifth event at Singapore this evening.

Having failed to come up last preparation, the son of Holy Roman Empire was back to near his best, when finishing second behind El Milagro, in the Open Stakes.

A victor of six of his 15 starts, the now five-year-old has always displayed above average ability and appears set for a fruitful campaign.

In six attempts over 1400m, Holy Empire has only missed the money once, including three victories.

His career peak was achieved over this distance range and he is likely to improve further racing second up.

Though unable to win racing second up previously, his record isn't a true representation of his level of performance, as he was only narrowly beaten on two of three occasions.

More notably in terms of Timeform ratings, Holy Empire has always made good improvement from his first up run, and expect no different this evening.

Lining up against star sprinter Zac Spirit is obviously no easy task, however he has the weight pull in his favour to deny his talented rival.

Holy Empire defeated Zac Spirit first up and will now meet the latter on the same weight terms.

Zac Spirit and Holy Empire have met on three occasions, with the former currently leading the ledger two-one.

At their only prior meeting at this distance range, Zac Spirit narrowly defeated Holy Empire, however on that occasion, Holy Empire was allotted two-and-a-half kilograms more than Zac Spirit.

This time around Zac Spirit will carry five kilograms more than Holy Empire, a key weight swing, which cannot be ignored.

Zac Spirit VS Holy Empire Hd2Hd

Leading rider Corey Brown legs aboard and is enjoying a good run of form.

From the middle draw, Holy Empire is likely to roll forward and settle just off the speed, with the Shane Baertschiger trained El Milagro taking up the running.

Although he hasn't won since October 2013, Holy Empire appears more than capable of ending that drought and should prove hard to beat.

The Cliff Brown trained Zac Spirit obviously remains the biggest danger, having returned in good order last start.

While unable to peg back either Holy Empire or El Milagro, the race was run to suit the front runners, and his closing sectionals were still very good.

In four starts racing second up, Zac Spirit has won two and has failed to miss the money.

Unseen beyond 1200m since February last year, remains the biggest query as his best form has clearly been achieved over the six furlong journey.

In order of performance ratings, Zac Spirit has five 1200m performances rated higher than his peak 1400m performance.

On paper his record at 1400m is very good — a victor of three of four attempts, however only one of those victories came in Stakes company which can be a slight query.

Nonetheless he is clearly the class runner in the event and will no doubt make his presence felt, with Michael Rodd in the saddle for the first time.

Last start winner El Milagro proved most impressive on-speed and appears to get a similar run in transit this time around.

A winner of 10 of his 32 starts, the son of Red Dazzler has placed in 10 of 20 attempts on this track and has placed in four of seven attempts over this distance range.

Using Timeform weight adjusted ratings, he appears well placed on his last start performance and a repeat should see him very hard to run down.

Of the rest the Hideyuki Takaoka trained Gold Rutile appears the next in line, having raced in good order this time in.

Placing in two of her last three starts, the daughter of Gold Halo was only narrowly beaten last time out and appears well placed down on the limit.

From the awkward draw she is likely to settle just off midfield, before making her run in the straight.

While she clearly lacks the class of her rivals at the top of the weights, she cannot be taken lightly.

Good luck and happy punting.