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After being set on an EW Barker Trophy course from a long way out, D-day has finally arrived as Muraahib will be among 16 horses to take a spot in the handicap feature on Sunday.
Trainer Lee Freedman earmarked the $250,000 Group 2 race over 1400m for the Reset six-year-old about a year ago, but in reality, he had more or less worked him out as a strong handicap prospect from the day he set his mind on buying him.
"I knew the horse from Melbourne, and when his name popped up on the online sale catalogue, I was quite interested to buy him," recalled the Australian mentor, who fields only one runner in the feature race, taking on the likes of the resuming Jupiter Gold, and other handy sorts like Grand Koonta, Zac Kasa and Fame Star to name a few.
"I rang (previous trainer) David (Hayes), with whom I've always got along well. David trained him for Sheikh Hamdan.
"He told me the horse was physically sound and his wind was good. I bought half of his shares and I gave the other half to Oscar Racing Stable.
"He's run in some good races as a younger horse in Australia, but I knew already then he would not be a weight-for-age horse, but more of a handicap horse in Singapore."
It turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy that built up through 13 starts, three wins and eight placings at Kranji, a well-orchestrated programme that helped him peak at the right time.
While Muraahib was quick to reveal his potential at his first prep last year, winning one of his five starts and not finishing worse than third at the others, except for one (fourth), he only really put it together at his second prep.
Thanks to a bit of headgear tinkering earlier in the year, his focus was noticeably sharper at a handful of starts, but paydirt had to wait after COVID-19 brought racing to a halt in April.
It turned out to be a salutary downtime for Muraahib, who was one of those horses who thrived particularly well during the pandemic-enforced break.
After two placings in Polytrack sprints at Class 2 level, two back-to-back victories on turf (1200m and 1400m) under new partner A'Isisuhairi Kasim franked the clear impression he had taken his form to another level.
At his last-start win with jockey Ruan Maia replacing the suspended A'Isisuhairi (October 10), Muraahib came off a rails-hugging run courtesy of barrier one to dispatch a handy Class 2 field in a style that showed he was cherry-ripe for the EW Barker Trophy.
"I've figured that under the handicap, the EW Barker Trophy would be about the only feature race he could figure in," said Freedman.
"That's why I've targeted that race quite early for him. Mind you, it's a tough race this year, there are a few good horses in it.
"Most of these are better horses than what he's run against, but the 52.5kgs will be a big help.
"He's drawn a bit sticky (12), though. With such draws, you can't tie the jockey down to any instructions; I'll leave it to Harry to ride his own race."
