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Eye Guy goes over Polytrack for the first time in Friday’s $80,000 Class 3 Division 2 race over 1200m with trainer Michael Clements confident the up-and-coming four-year-old will pass the test.
All his three Kranji starts have been on turf so far, with all-the-way victories coming in the last two at Novice, then at Class 4 Premier level.
The Joe Singh-owned son of Bradbury’s Luck actually has three more wins under the belt – at three of his four barrier trials.
He was particularly impressive at the last one on July 31 when he again utilised his natural speed to show the way before putting daylight on the rest in the home straight under the guidance of champion jockey Vlad Duric.
And yes, with barrier trials staged on the alternative track, Clements could afford to be quite relaxed Eye Guy won’t be out of his depth on Friday.
“Everything indicates from his barrier trials that he should handle the Polytrack,” he said.
“He will also be up in class. It won’t be as easy as his last start, but the horse is very well and he should still run well.”
While local rider Mohd Zaki was handed the reins at Eye Guy’s last-start win, Clements has picked in-form jockey Olivier Placais for the much more challenging assignment.
“Vlad rode him at his last barrier trial, but as we know, he cannot make 53.5kgs,” said Clements.
“Zaki did a great job at his last start, but as he is coming up in class, we thought he needed a more senior rider this time. Olivier was available and we’re glad to have him on Eye Guy.”
The Frenchman was actually in that barrier trial on July 31 when he took third place aboard Basilisk, getting a full view of Eye Guy’s clean pair of heels 5 ½ lengths in arrears.
“I’m delighted connections have put me on Eye Guy. We got well beaten by him in a trial two weeks ago and he was very impressive,” said Placais who will jump from barrier No 3 with Eye Guy.
“Little did I know I would be on him at his next race then, but that’s the way it is at times. I know I’m on because Vlad cannot make the weight this time, but I intend to make the most of the opportunity.”
What lies ahead for Eye Guy beyond that race will probably depend how he takes the step-up in class in his stride, but Clements has a good hunch he can go further – both in terms of class and distance.
“Eye Guy is very speedy but he has learned to settle better now,” said the Zimbabwean-born handler.
“Right now, he’s sprinting more like an above-average type. He’s running over 1200m on Polytrack later, but I’d probably get him to climb to 1400m at some stage.
“If he continues to progress, I would definitely consider the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge next year, but I may even look at a sprint feature along the way.”.
The Group 3 Garden City Trophy (1200m) on October 21 and the Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes (1200m) on November 9 are the two sprint features left for this year while next year, the Singapore Sprint Series (Merlion Trophy, JBBA Rocket Man Sprint and Lion City Cup all over 1200m) could be an option.
