Jockey Alan Munro showed he knew how to get the best out of Sing Roulette after they combined for a second consecutive all-the-way win on Sunday.
After a first warm-up ride where Sing Roulette proved a bit of a handful and was well beaten down the field, the British rider got right on the button at their second link-up, going straight to the lead to win a Kranji Stakes D race over 1200m in a canter.
Granted, there was more depth to the $60,000 Class 4 Panasonic Innovation Stakes (1200m), but electing for the same frontrunning tactics, Sing Roulette ($20) was never to be in doubt the moment he was sent on his way.
The Ruwi gelding, a home-bred by his Singapore owner Teng Kian Beng, did tend to overdo things a little, but was in general kept on a rather loose leather to the home turn where Munro went for the stick. Favourite Run It Twice (Manoel Nunes) who did not enjoy the best of starts, but somehow managed to tuck into a good spot in third on the rails, was starting to wind up on the outside, but Sing Roulette kept racing away to score decisively by two and a half lengths.
Mr Fantastic (Mohd Firdaus) also loomed as a threat at the point of turn but looked flat-footed when Sing Roulette careered away at the 300m, settling for third more than four lengths off the winner. The winning time was 1min 10.26secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
Munro was suitably impressed with the way Sing Roulette reproduced the same winning form showed at their last association, but admitted to thinking he was sitting on a filly.
“He actually reminds me a bit of the other Roulette filly, Lady Roulette. They should have called him Mr Roulette,” he quipped.
“It took him five or six strides for him to go through his gears, but he still does everything we ask of him. He wanted to go and finally settled at the 400m.
“He won a nice race in the end and I have to say the young legs are a great thing. He will improve further.”
Winning trainer Leslie Khoo was of the opinion Sing Roulette, his 46th winner for the season, will be even better over more ground.
“He’s kept improving but remains a bit difficult to ride. When we ride him from behind he gets a bit lost,” said the Singaporean trainer.
“That’s the best way to ride him. Go forward, give him a breather and let him roll along.
“I think the longer the trip, 1400m to 1600m, the better he will be.”
In 13 outings, Sing Roulette has now brought his record to three wins and two seconds for prizemoney in excess of $120,000 for Mr Teng, a Singaporean owner who prefers to breed his own horses instead of buying from outside. An expensive but unsuccessful import as a racehorse for Mr Teng and trainer Desmond Koh, the UK-bred Ruwi has been standing as his stallion for a few years now, with Lady Roulette and Above The Horizon among the progeny to have raced at Kranji, but Sing Roulette is by far the most promising.
