3 minute read

Former Singapore champion trainer Alwin Tan’s 2021 season has not quite taken off despite a much better start, but at the same time, he is banking on his new “babies” to be that much-needed ray of hope to those challenging times ahead.

The wonder years that led to Tan's one and only crowning in 2016 are long gone. The nadir was COVID's 2020 season which saw the former Air Force regular (who began training at Kranji in 2009) bring up a paltry haul of five winners.

He was obviously glad to see the back of 2020, as the dawn of a new season that couldn't possibly be worse loomed.

Tan had every reason to be upbeat at the beginning. In three months, he has already clocked up two-thirds of that 2020 score with The Archer and Super Power, but the fact remained that his fast-thinning and fast-ageing (average age was recently 5.4-year-old for 16 horses) stable was in bad need of new blood.

With owners having either left the game or moved to other trainers, the 52-year-old handler had to cast his net wider if he were to keep his string relevant as he targeted newbies, existing Kranji owners he never dealt with but just networked with – and even further afield.

Thursday's trials saw one of these new recruits unveiled, Bizar Wins (pictured above), a Brazen Beau three-year-old bought by the same Hong Kong connections who race Bartimaeus.

Ridden by Koh Teck Huat, Bizar Wins settled in a handy spot on the fence from barrier one but gradually lost ground as Alexander (Matthew Kellady) went into overdrive upon straightening up to take third place more than 10 lengths astern.

It wasn't exactly the kind of trial to give that fuzzy feeling he could have unearthed his next War Affair, El Padrino, Speedy Cat or Super Fortune, but you couldn't begrudge Tan for having a spring back in his step.

Besides the Hongkonger, four two-year-olds are also waiting in the wings, padding his stable strength out to 21, including Modern Express, the first to race this Sunday in the $20,000 Open Maiden race over 1200m.

"It was good to see Bizar Wins trial for his Hong Kong owner this morning. We were supposed to get three more from Uruguay from him, but they were stuck in Argentina when the borders closed last year," said Tan.

"They are now racing in Argentina, but the owner still wants to buy more horses for Singapore. He has a group of partners and they all think Singapore is a nice place to race horses.

"They were all looking forward to Bizar Wins' first trial today. He was still nervous and didn't change his legs, but it was a good first hitout."

Koh concurred with Tan there was a bit of an engine under the bonnet, but one which still needed some fine-tuning.

"He's still green and is not 100% fit. In the gates, he was a bit nervous and wanted to jump," said the Singaporean jockey.

"He's actually not a bad horse. He travelled nicely, but in the last 300m, he got a bit tired when I asked him to go."

As for Modern Express, Tan said that the two-year-old colt by Burgundy had not really sent pulses racing in his workouts, but what mattered more to him is he has been given enough work to make his Kranji debut.

"Modern Express is still learning as he's only a two-year-old. He has been working very keenly, he doesn't know how to relax," said Tan.

"But he's ready to go. I'm giving him his first run with no gears first, let's see first how he handles it, then we can make adjustments later.

"I also have three other two-year-olds who should race very soon. Modern Express (Modern Stable) and Sound Of Nature (x Choisir and raced by Spirit Nature Stable) are both raced by new owners, which is very encouraging for the future.

"On the other hand, Super Extreme (x Dissident) and Super Incredible (x Deep Field), are, as their names may suggest, raced by Mr Andre Lim (of Super Easy fame and who also races Super Power with Tan), but in partnership with UNI Stable, who are joining me for the first time.

"For those who remember them, the UNI Stable is better known as the owner of Astrostar. I'm happy to welcome them to my stable and I hope we can have success together."

Astrostar was a Polytrack sprinter by Testa Rossa who won five races at Kranji in 2013 and 2014 when trained by ex-trainer Sonny Yeoh.