Trainer Alwin Tan will have to wait until Sunday’s last race to find out if the unkindest cut has not taken anything away from Casing Royal other than the obvious.

After a flying start winning his first two races last November, the three-year-old son of Showcasing was considered a shoo-in for this year’s Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.

But three runs after a short break, Tan had to lower his aim. Casing Royal finished out of the placings even when eased back in humbler Class 4 races, while Conflight netted the first Leg for him and Nova Strike and Infantry lost no friends.

Tan had not lost sight of Casing Royal all the while. Ability does not just vanish so suddenly. He just felt the colt needed to lose something, but he had to speak to his owners from the Royal Stable first.

“He kept putting on weight and that’s when I felt he had to be castrated,” said the Singaporean handler.

“I told the owners we don’t have a breeding industry here and it was not really worth keeping him as a colt. They agreed and he was gelded after his last run.”

Casing Royal could have been spared the knife as that was actually a very good run when he came from the clouds under apprentice jockey Amirul Ismadi to run third to Rusty Brown in a Class 4 race over 1200m, but Tan stood firm.

“I’ve put in a lot of work into him since he came back from the operation,” said Tan.

“My riders tell me he is a lot more focused now. Oscar Chavez rode him in two barrier trials and he ran second in both. We’ve been pushing him as we wanted to get him fit again.”

Currently lying in second place on the Singapore trainer’s premiership, Tan was torn between a few races for his comeback, but in the end opted for his favourite pattern – the less weight the better.

“I wanted Harry (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) to ride him as he won both races with him,” he explained.

“Harry rode him at his last trial last Thursday and I was very happy with the run as 1000m is too sharp for him. It told me his fitness and condition were very good.

“But as Harry is a lightweight jockey, I didn’t want my horse to carry too much dead weight. I was looking at a Graduation race or a Class 4 race, but in the end went for an Open Benchmark 67 race where he will carry only 55.5kg.

“That should work to his advantage for a first-up run even if it’s a tough field with Alibi and En Civil in the race.

“I was actually surprised some racing publications have made him their first choice as he’s coming back from a long layoff. I can only hope he puts in a good run.”

Whether Casing Royal can bounce back to his early form remains to be seen, but Tan is definitely more bullish when it comes to his other three-year-old Nova Strike who has been kept in training in the wake of a chequered 3YO campaign. The son of Red Giant runs in Friday night’s $80,000 Open Benchmark 74 race over 1600m on his pet surface, Polytrack, over which he recorded all his four wins.

“I spoke with the jockey (Manoel Nunes), and his advice was to keep him going as he was still well condition-wise after the 3YO series,” said Tan.

“He also said he was better over Polytrack compared to turf and he can handle a distance like the mile.

“It was, however, tricky to pick a race for him. There was a Class 3 race but there weren’t enough runners and it became an Open Benchmark 74 race, which suited him as he got only 55.5kgs.”

It is again the same line of thought about “playing the handicap” that saw Nova Strike’s older stablemate Nova Warrior take on the big boys for the first time on Sunday.

Though he is also a Polytrack lover, the Bachelor Duke four-year-old is being switched to turf in the $125,000 The British Club Gallop 2016, a Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m. Rated on 81, Nova Warrior is weighted at 52kgs, in receipt of six kilos from topweight Daniel who boasts a rating of 103.

“Nova Warrior ran a very good race at his last start. He ran fourth to Sebas,” said Tan.

“He has maintained his condition and I thought it would be good for him to run in this kind of class.

“He will have visors this time and it’s also a change to turf. But he did win once on turf, so I’m not too concerned.”

Grass and headgear are not the only variations to the equation. Nunes, who is coming back from his kidney stones problem, will replace Shafiq Rizuan.

“Shafiq has won five races with this horse and knows him very well,” said Tan.

“But when the handicap came out, it was quite a strong field. The owner and I discussed and we decided we wanted a stronger rider on him.”