There are not that many ingredients required to make a punting profit but cash and then luck are two imperatives just like flour and water to make some dough!
The feature this evening is Race Eight, a S$125K Kranji Stakes A over 1400m on the short course B turf track.
It sees an eleven-horse field and not one runner in the race is without any hope so it makes for a very good betting contest.
Joao Moreira is riding a fresh up Cash Luck for the Michael Freedman stable and he had the choice of many runners in the race tonight so it matters.
He rode the four-year-old in a trial earlier this month and must have liked what he felt plus having such a super record atop him there is that already know how good factor.
Five rides on the gelding for four wins and a fourth is sensational and add in the gelding is blinkered tonight fresh up tells you all systems are go.
The natural backrunner is very strongly built and has scored before resuming so in a race that has some natural pace and/or pressure entrants I can see Cash Luck burying them this evening the closing stages.
Remember he is G1 placed second on a yielding turf track over a mile and while it came as a three-year-old, so you must show caution until they prove themselves against the older horses, the winner was Super Easy.
I think the Freedman stable have some big targets with Cash Luck in 2013 and being such a strapping sort they can work up the weights and not worry.
The other Freedman runner in the race is another big horse in The Comedian that when he is right simply loves the 1400m and turf.
The Comedian is no laughing matter fresh up with the outstanding record of four wins and a placing from seven outings in such a state.
A quiet fourth in a trial for racenight rider Steven King should see a script that is worth wagering on.
Captain Obvious went so bad last start that you just know the giant grey will bounce back here as his record overall for several seasons proves he is the real deal.
He loves the turf (twelve wins so far) and is a six-time victor to date at 1400m plus his quality needs no justifying with a G1 and two G3 successes in the record.
Team Burridge clearly wanted some answers on that last start bad stop to finish last and have since trialled him and told the senior rider Oscar Chavez to let him run.
The trial victory was by daylight and he clocked a slick 59.71 so Captain Obvious is ready to set sail and all aboard if he is overs.
The 3kg claimer Kasim A’Isisuhairi retains the ride and brings the weight down to a luxury 56.5kg again but this time it is on turf and at 1400m.
I feel gate ten is a positive as strange as that may initially seem because it gives the rider options with a natural front runner in that he can assess the his before striding forward.
Captain Obvious will not allow walking on his watch and if nothing wants to set a strong clip then the rest will not have to say or display it more than once.
He can sit on the pace and pressure or shadow opposition then lay down the law near the home turn.
An outer barrier also removes the risk if a tardy start happens that getting strung up in traffic on a big fast runner then becomes a problem, as the apprentice can always recover around the field in clear air.
This line up as I mentioned earlier has a plethora of chances and race scenarios but the common theme is there will at least be good pace early so that middle sector of the feature is where the outcome will be decided.
The two early burners will be Keep Away and Captain Obvious so it depends what the apprentice rider on each wants and for how long they will maintain that stance.
Captain Obvious with a soft midrace sectional will be the one to catch but do not dismiss Keep Away if he is let stride out as the Hideyuki Takaoka trained gelding has upset before.
Keep Away has won twelve races and eleven of them have come on the turf for the single G3 winner.
Mohd Zaki claims 1kg and rides with the apprentice having scored on him five starts ago.
It was an all the way win in the G3 Committee’s Prize over a mile with a lightweight of just 50kg and some of the names he demolished makes for a who’s who of Kranji.
The runner up was The Comedian and third home Speedy Cat but the likes of Gingerbread Man (fourth), Flax (seventh) and Flying Fulton (ninth) finished four to eight lengths in arrears.
Zaki has actually ridden Keep Away fourteen times for four wins and two placings so likes to hold the front and does not worry about the reputation of rivals.
The proven warriors are Ghozi and Flying Fulton with each having compelling turf and trip statistics plus both claim down tonight in a grade that is considered easy for the pair.
Flying Fulton at 57.5kg from a good draw will go his usual rugged race and you cannot afford to leave him out.
The last time he ran in a Kranji Stakes A was August of 2011 when second beaten five lengths was his lot.
Did I mention that Rocket Man won the race!
Ghozi down to 56.5kg will not know himself and placed third in a Kranji Stakes A three starts ago with a kilo more behind El Milagro over 1400m.
The other time he ran in a race like this saw a second placing under 58kg behind the tidy Better Be The One in February of 2011.
He has not won a race since April of 2011 so Ghozi like a few in the field this evening gets an ideal chance and drawn gate two all helps.
Chavez after making sure Captain Obvious had a meaningful trial will ride the stablemate El Padrino and this four-year-old keeps going super races.
The ace draw tonight ensures a soft trip and in the Kranji Stakes A race that rival Ghozi finished third he was runner up but poignantly received 5.5kg.
Here he will get just 3kg but is too good a galloper and brings in a last start second behind the flying Huka Falls.
The gifted What Now resumes and since Moreira cannot ride them all it sees Manoel Nunes get the mount on the Cliff Brown prepared turf specialist.
A last start win in the G2 E W Barker Trophy (1400m) easily saw just how good this gelding can be and Brown has not trialled him since that November victory.
What Now has never won fresh up so perhaps Moreira will be back atop next time.
The record of What Now is impressive with six wins and as many placings from his fifteen starts for the late maturer.
The three times he has missed paying a dividend resulted in a fourth beaten less than a length then a sixth at G3 behind Super Easy and a ninth at G1 to Flax.
Wherever Joao goes then so too the Kranji faithful and in Cash Luck you have those two words bettors adore to have separately but even better when together.
Cash Luck can win fresh up if the race pace is solid enough throughout.
Captain Obvious could deal out a lesson here and if he kicks clear early the run home then on the short course he may be uncatchable.
Enjoy what is a really intriguing feature event.
