Last year’s Karaka Million winner Xiong Feng makes his Kranji debut as Dan The Man this Friday, but trainer Daniel Meagher advises against any rush to the tote window.
No doubt the chestnut son of Iffraaj put Singapore on the map at Ellerslie last year when he captured New Zealand’s richest two-year-old race (1200m) for Singaporean owners and trainer Mok Zhan Lun who hand-picked him from the 2015 Karaka Yearling Sale for a paltry NZ$30,000.
But his next five starts had been a far cry from that famous win as well as his previous first two wins from as many starts as a two-year-old when prepared by Stephen McKee and Eddie Chippendale.
After his eighth and last start in New Zealand when sixth in a 1400m race at Tauranga, his Singapore owners decided it was time to bring him to Kranji in a bid to resurrect his racing career.
But judging from the first signs and his output on the training tracks under his new registered name of Dan The Man, Meagher is exercising caution.
“He had an outstanding start to his career as a two-year-old winning three from three including the Karaka Million,” said the Australian second-year handler.
“All credit to Mok who has a very good eye and knows how to buy really nice horses. It’s been proven over the years.
“But the horse then had a few issues as a three-year-old. He didn’t go anywhere near the earlier expectations placed on him.
“The owners decided to try and give him a new lease of life in Singapore and he came to me. He’s quite a striking individual as a horse, but he has a swayback (drooping spine which creates a bowed topline) and a kissing spine (vertebrae too close to each other).
“That seems to have created a lot of problems in his hindquarters. He doesn’t stretch very well.
“It’s my first experience dealing with such cases, but I know there are some horses with swaybacks who can still race. You just have to manage them differently.
“He has not shown me a lot at the track, but his last barrier trial was probably the best when he ran third to Super Tycoon, just over a length behind. Oscar Chavez rode him in that trial, and we all know what a great horseman he is, but it was a bit of a coincidence he got on.”
The Panamanian-born jockey will keep the ride at Dan The Man’s first Kranji outing in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1200m on Polytrack, pitted against handy Class 3 sorts like Nova Missile, Anonymous and Red Dawn.
“The jury is still out at the moment whether he can get back to his best,” said Meagher.
“The only way to learn about him is for him to race. That first race will give us a better idea where he is at.”
