There is no telling when Galvarino’s erratic ways will crop up, be it in races or barrier trials, but trainer Alwin Tan is confident man is slowing winning the war over horse.
There is no doubt that the son of Stryker - who was named as Crazy Wins first - is blessed with natural ability, as he displayed at his narrow second to Lim’s Lightning in the Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m) in July.
But it sometimes all goes down the drain with the maiden’s inclination to take a scenic tour on the outside rail shortly after the start, especially if he is drawn out wide.
He did it in a couple of barrier trials, bolting up to the outskirts without much the rider can do. More critically, he did it in a race once, at his last start in a Restricted Maiden race over 1100m where he jumped from the outermost alley in 10.
Covering more unnecessary ground than he would have if he had stayed on course, Galvarino still closed in late, passing three runners for Troy See.
Tan had to go back to the drawing board. Two barrier tests were imposed before he could be deemed fit to race again.
The gelding raced by the same owners as stablemate Maximus, the IB Racing Stable, was on his best behaviour in a barrier trial on Thursday, giving some hope he might be close to kicking the habit.
Galvarino leapt to the front from his inside alley, with Lady Boss (Zuriman Zulkifli) on his girth – almost acting as a “guardrail”.
He was even more hemmed in when two more runners, Whakaaria Mai (Erasmus Aslam) and Uncle Lucky (Craig Grylls) joined to form a line of four. He remained scotched to the running rails, eventually easing off to third place half-a-length off the winner Whakaaria Mai.
“I spoke with the Chief Stipe, Mr Terry Bailey, about whether we could just put him in some barrier practice. I also requested for the inside barrier and I was very grateful to Mr Bailey for helping us,” said Tan.
“This has helped put more confidence in the horse, like we saw today. He’s had two or three of those barrier practices already, and he’s improved steadily.
“When he has horses on his outside, he’s actually fine. I think he is now ready to go for the tests, and I will either use right-side winkers or right-side blinkers on him.
“However, I don’t think he will come back to racing so soon. Most probably, it will be for next year.”
The 2016 Singapore champion trainer, who has had a mixed year with 33 winners to sit in 10th spot on this year’s leaderboard, is just hopeful he can hang in to a Top 10 finish with eight meetings left before the end of the season.
He only saddles small teams of two at the Friday and Tuesday meeting, with a bigger team of six on Sunday, headed by the evergreen Robin Hood.
After losing his way a little earlier this year, the Nom Du Jeu seven-year-old has shown a bit of a bounce of late, as could be seen at his last-start smart second to Tesoro Privado in a Kranji Stakes A race over 1400m on October 10.
Apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen takes over from Mohd Zaki on the six-time winner (1400m to 1700m) in Sunday’s $100,000 Kranji Stakes B race over 1400m. The pair last combined three starts back when a closing second to McGregor in a Kranji Stakes B race over the mile on August 31.
“CC has ridden him once and hopefully, he knows the horse better now,” said Tan.
“The horse is in his old days now, and has always had some leg issues. It takes some time to fix them before he can race, and that’s why his runs are spaced out.
“The distance is correct for him, and I expect him to run well. It’d be nice to train another winner for Mr Chua (Eight Eight One Stable) who has been a very loyal owner from Day 1, in good times and bad times.”
