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Wind Trail might have blown over into quieter times of late, but trainer Hideyuki Takaoka still makes the Japanese-bred gelding his leading pick from the three-pronged attack he launches in the $70,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1800m this Saturday.

Some may argue the old adage 'winning form is good form' would point towards his other Japanese-bred, last-start winner Star Jack instead, but the Japanese handler is wary of the Jungle Pocket seven-year-old's see-sawing formline despite his pretty decent record of four wins from 28 starts.

"Star Jack won a nice race at his last start (Class 4 over 1800m on March 6), and has maintained a nice condition," he said.

"But he's not very consistent. Sometimes he's ready, sometimes he's not, he's a moody horse – things need to go his way."

As for Larry, he is having his first outing for Takaoka since walking in from trainer Stephen Gray's barn a few weeks ago.

The Mastercraftsman six-year-old's lead-up form does not read too flash either, but a dyed-in-the-wool stayer like him is in the right barn.

"I'm still learning about Larry. But from what I've seen of him, two turns will suit him better, he needs 2000m," said the four-time Singapore Gold Cup-winning trainer.

"The owner Mr Chua Chai Lee and I have been good friends for a long time. He had more horses with Theo Kieser, but we had a few, like Be With You that I had a share in.

"Lately, he had Happy Princess with me, and now he's got Global Spirit, and Larry, of course.

"Larry's form seems to have dropped off, but he came to us in good condition. Hopefully, we can get him back to his best over more ground."

Likewise, Wind Trail  is not of gale-force magnitude these days. The Screen Hero six-year-old has not saluted since October 2019, but Takaoka has a feeling a new storm is brewing.

"I think Wind Trail has the better chance of the three," he said.

"He didn't win last year, but I don't think Class 3 was too strong for him. From March or April, he dropped his condition, maybe because of the Circuit Breaker, but when his form came back, there were not many races that suited him.

"But his last two runs were very encouraging."

The three-time winner (1600m to 1800m) pulled off two fast-closing thirds in Class 4 events over 1800m and 2000m at his last two starts, both with leading jockey Marc Lerner up.

"I put Marc on Wind Trail, he didn't choose. This horse needs a strong rider as he can be a bit lazy," said Takaoka.

Star Jack will have in-form jockey Wong Chin Chuen up while veteran rider Saifudin Ismail takes the reins on Larry.

"It's a competitive race, not top quality, but enough quality here and there. I just hope my three horses can run well. We'll see," said Takaoka.

Champion trainer Michael Clements (Vittoria Perfetta and On Line) and runner-up Mark Walker (Silent Partner, Buddy Buddy and Augustus) field almost a third of the 14-horse field between them, with three of them likely to fill the top market spots – Vittoria Perfetta, On Line and Silent Partner.