There was only the sole meeting in Singapore over the weekend, with the Michael Freedman trained Spanish Bay the stand-out performance on Friday night.
One of the outsiders in the Group 2 Singapore 3YO Classic [1400m], the son of Nadeem upstaged his more favoured rivals, when leading throughout in the feature event.
Ridden aggressively to take up the running, Spanish Bay always travelled well under Saifudin Ismail and took full advantage of the slow sections in-front.
Held together until passing the 300m, Spanish Bay kicked strongly, digging in deep to hold off the Laurie Laxon trained Affleck.Improving eight pounds on his previous best, Spanish Bay pushed his claims as a leading chance in the Group 1 Singapore Guineas.
Although not rated up to the heights of last year's winner War Affair, Spanish Bay's performance has him rated alongside past winners Gingerbread Man and Big Maverick.The Laurie Laxon trained Better Than Ever remains the highest rated victor of the Singapore 3YO Classic, with War Affair the next best ahead of Super Easy and Stepitup.
Beaten narrowly, Affleck recorded easily the quickest last 400m and given the way the race was run, he was very game in defeat.
At just his second run back, Affleck conceded a key fitness edge, but is expected to be right at his peak in the Group 1 Singapore Guineas [1600m].Notably Affleck did take a minor step forward on his first up performance and is proven to improve with racing.
His sole attempt at a mile [3YO Championship]saw him dominate his rivals by six lengths and he still remains the horse to beat, however it is not as straight forward as it first appeared.Spanish Bay obviously pushed his claims in the Group 1 feature, while the Mark Walker trained Chase and Jimmy Rea remain under strong notice if they head that way.
Both Zululand and Blue Danube failed to fire on Friday night, but are obviously capable on best form and are expected to show sharp improvement at their next outing.In previous years there has always been a dominant presence in the three-year-old ranks — War Affair (2014), Stepitup (2013), Super Easy (2012), Gingerbread Man (2011) and Better Than Ever (2010) all clinched the prestigious Triple Crown.
However, there is a greater deal of depth this season and for the first time since its inception in 2010, a different horse has won the first two legs of the three-year-old series.In what is shaping as a highly competitive Singapore Guineas, Affleck currently heads the field, however he is not short of talented opposition.
One Rar
Sticking on strongly to finish second behind the Patrick Shaw trained In Fact, One Rar easily won the race at the weights, conceding eight kilograms to both the first and third horse.
Taking a few runs to his straps, One Rar recorded a new career peak and doesn't appear far away from a win, if placed to his advantage.Last preparation, One Rar took seven runs before collecting his first victory and appears to be following a similar progression this time in.
His best form has also been achieved on the polytrack and should be followed closely at his upcoming starts.
The Leslie Khoo trained Genius displayed sharp improvement at his second start, when proving too good in the third event.
Unable to feature on debut against the older horses, the son of Onemorenomore was far better suited back against his own age, when sustaining a long run.Settled just beyond midfield, Genius worked home powerfully under Barend Vorster making up good ground to hit the front inside the 100m.
In a race run to suit the front markers, Genuis's performance was quite impressive and he appears open to further improvement moving forward.Super One remains the highest rated 2YO to this point, however Genius stamped his claims as a leading contender in the Golden Horseshoe on May 15.
