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Singapore’s highest-rated horse Debt Collector heads eight locals in a bid to dethrone Hong Kong’s two-pronged attack in the SIN G1 Kranji Mile (1600m) on Saturday, 25 May.
Last year’s inaugural winner, the Caspar Fownes-trained Southern Legend, returns to Kranji for his title defence and is joined by the Tony Millard-trained 2018 Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) winner Singapore Sling.
Southern Legend dominated last year’s race, with the Millard-trained Horse Of Fortune second. This year, however, presents a different scenario, with Singapore’s current ratings table-topper Debt Collector - a notable absentee from last year’s Kranji Mile - primed to serve it up to the Hong Kong raiders.
Trained by Cliff Brown, the 2016 Singapore Horse of the Year and five-time Group 1 winner is unbeaten this season and has won his last four starts.
The winning streak began in September last year when he claimed the first two legs of the Triple Crown Series, the SIN G1 Raffles Cup (1600m) and the SIN G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m).
Without any intention to contest the third and final leg, the SIN G1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m), Brown spelled his champion for five months before a winning return in a Class 1 1400m race in March, culminating with a win in the SIN G2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m) on 7 April.
Brown was again astounded at the way Debt Collector found the line that day, even if he did look out of his comfort zone inside the final 100m after hitting the front unusually early.
“Debt Collector went through and stopped. I don’t think he saw Countofmontecristo sneaking through on the inside, but we won, which is great,” Brown said.
“He pulled up after the winning post, which is just him. Glen (Boss) rode a clever race on Countofmontecristo, who is a very good horse. It nearly paid off.”
It was the second time in as many starts that Countofmontecristo had to play bridesmaid to Debt Collector, but a recent impressive barrier trial has big-race jockey Glen Boss full of confidence ahead of Saturday’s feature.
“I’ve ridden him at his last three starts now and I can tell you this horse has reached his peak at the right moment,” Boss said.
With Debt Collector and Countofmontrecristo standing out as the top two in-form local representatives, the list of prospects certainly doesn’t end there.
Brown has kept Debt Collector fresh but he has Elite Excalibur in fine fettle for a bold second-up showing after an impressive first-up win in the Kranji Mile prelude, the SIN G3 Moonbeam Vase (1600m), which could prove a pivotal form reference for the Kranji Mile.
Singapore champion trainer Lee Freedman’s Hong Kong-owned - and previously raced - Blizzard checked home third on that occasion after enduring a wide trip. The seven-year-old chestnut boasts a SIN G3 Fortune Bowl (1400m) win to his name with two thirds and two fourths from six local starts.
Trainer Shane Baertschiger’s Preditor, who won last year’s SIN G3 Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) under Hong Kong jockey Matthew Poon, caught the eye with a closing fifth when second-up in the Moonbeam Vase after a solid first-up third to Debt Collector in the SIN G2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m).
Perhaps a forgotten horse out of the Moonbeam Vase could be trainer Ricardo Le Grange’s up-and-coming four-year-old and SIN G3 El Dorado Classic (2000m) winner King Louis.
After a saddle slip early in the race, King Louis went on to be badly checked twice: once at the 500m and again at the 400m, resulting in an 11th placing which far from justifies his true form.
Trainers Bruce Marsh and Hideyuki Takaoka complete the local brigade with one runner each – 2014 Singapore Horse of the Year and 2014 SIN G1 Kranji Mile winner War Affair, who ran unplaced in the SIN G3 Rocket Man Sprint (1200m) upon his Kranji return, and Japanese mare Makanani, a five-time winner from 24 starts.
