Singapore superstar War Affair was the key stand-out performance across the weekend and while on the surface he appeared below his best, sectional analysis tells a different story.
Unseen since his dazzling display in the Group 1 Lion City Cup, the son of O'Reilly was sent out the long-odds on favourite ($1.10) and while he had to work, he duly saluted.
Forced to do it the hard way, War Affair travelled wide throughout with jockey Alan Munro ensuring he did not get snookered behind any runners.
Pushed five wide rounding the home turn War Affair ambled up to the leaders and while he took a while to hit the front, his class shone over the concluding stages.Stablemate Happy Money surprisingly put up the biggest fight, with War Affair drawing away only to score by a length.
On the bare form, War Affair was marked below his best, however when analysing his individual sectionals his performance held plenty of merit.When taking out the Group 1 Lion City Cup War Affair reeled off 11.02 second 200m sections for his last 400m (average) and sustained 11.12 second 200m sections for the last 800m (average).
In summary, given the sluggish early tempo it made it very hard for War Affair to beat his rivals by a greater margin.
The fact he was able to sustain 11.41 second 200m sections for 1200m (average) emphasises the level of his performance, made more impressive by the fact he sat wide throughout.The Alvin Tan trained galloper will now press onto the second leg of the 4YO Challenge - the Group 1 Patron's Bowl [1600m] before lining up in the Group 1 Singapore Derby [2000m].
War Affair is unlikely to be any sort of betting proposition in the near future, however he still creates plenty of interest as we eagerly await to see to whether he can eclipse his master Timeform rating achieved in the 2014 Raffles Cup.
Stablemate Smart People also impressed for the Tan stable on Sunday when breaking through for his maiden victory in Singapore.
Formerly based in Malaysia, the son of Duke Of Marmalade came over to Singapore with three wins on the board and showcased his talent when finishing second behind Jimmy Rea two starts back.A stark contrast to his debut performance behind Ghost (beaten 6.7L), Smart Option again raised the bar when leading throughout in the ninth event.
Ridden by Oscar Chavez, Smart People always travelled strongly and after kicking clear inside the 300m he went to score by just under two lengths.A question mark was initially placed on his performance behind Jimmy Rea (SP at 50-1), however he has now confirmed the strength of that performance.
Using Timeform ratings, Smart Option improved four pounds on his effort behind Jimmy Rea and given he is only lightly raced he remains open to further improvement.Capping off a winning treble for Tan, Smart Option also continued Tan's great run with favourites this season currently striking at 36% — running at a POT of +4.8%.
Cuaron
Ridden by Michael Rodd the son of Iffraaj lived up to his solid market support when displaying a sharp turn of foot to score by just under two lengths.
Tracking the speed in fourth, Cuaron was forced to take a narrow gap inside the 300m and once clear he quickly hit the front before powering away over the concluding stages.On raw times he was marked just half a length slower than Golden Tomahawk (Race 7) and recorded time figures well ahead of the bare form.
Using Timeform ratings Cuaron returned an above average maiden winning figure and possesses scope for further improvement.He gives the impression he will be better suited over further and is definitely one to place in your blackbook.
