3 minute read

If only Kranji had 900m races or even quarter horse racing, must have wished the US-trained Desmond Koh when he scanned through newcomer Sun Ops’ past record in Australia.

The stats screamed speedball. In nine starts for Mansfield trainer Gerald Ryan, the son of I Am Invincible, then known as Covert Ops, recorded his two wins over 900m at Newcastle. When stretched beyond (he went 1100m max) at his other seven runs, the Sun Bloodstock Racing sprinter could not quite see it out, with three placings over 1000m at Randwick and Hawkesbury as his best results.

Once Koh put a saddle on his new import, he could see the explosive energy - and started to wonder if the 1000m, the shortest journey you can get at Kranji, might be a query.

As it turned out, Sun Ops blasted a Class 4 field over that trip at his Singapore debut on February 27. It wasn't a scorcher the whole way through, as he was not left alone upfront, but once jockey Noh Senari shook the reins at the top of the straight, he was off and gone.

A second helping of 1000m would be the next logical step, but Koh could not find any for the four-year-old, hence the long time between the two runs.

With Sun Ops bucking his brands off at the stable, the only way to cool his jets was a race. Against his better judgement, Koh had no other alternative but to run him in this Sunday's Class 3 Polytrack race over 1100m.

To some, another 100m should not be that big a deal, but Koh is worried it could be a bridge too far.

"I'm worried about the extra 100m. He's unproven over 1100m," said the Singaporean handler who honed his craft in California.

"In Australia, he's won twice over 900m only. He was placed over 1000m and that was it.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure about 1000m first-up, so 1100m is even further out. He was not 100% at his first race, but he was fresh and he did it well.

"With limited races, it's hard to find the right race these days. I had to make do with what I can find.

"If he hasn't raced for seven weeks, it wasn't because he had a freshen-up. I just couldn't find another 1000m race for him, that's how bad it was – seven weeks between two runs."

Koh has been putting in the hard yards in Sun Ops  so he is presented fit enough to outweigh the wobbles that may set in 100m out. At a barrier trial on April 8, he opened up to a commanding break down the back to go and score by a big gap.

"The horse is fit, as you could tell from his barrier trial last week," said Koh.

"But he's a jump-and-run kind of horse, and I'm crossing my fingers he has the endurance to go all the way.

"As for any typical speed horse, when they come under pressure, they buckle. Hopefully, he can handle the pressure on Sunday."

Sun Ops will at least have the luck of the barrier draw on his side. He will jump from barrier No 2 and will have Oscar Chavez, his winning trial partner, on board.

The Panamanian jockey, who made a comeback from a hand injury last week, albeit without winning, partnered another Sun Bloodstock Racing-owned galloper in a barrier trial on Thursday morning – 2018 Singapore Derby (1800m) winner Sun Marshal.

The Sepoy six-year-old is among Lee Freedman's former horses transferred to other stables after the 2018 Singapore champion trainer returned to Australia last month.

Surprisingly, a noted stayer like Sun Marshal went head-to-head with speed squib Makkem Lad (Yusoff Fadzli) in the home straight, even lunging at the line to finish ahead by 0.2L.

Koh said he had to up the ante on his Kranji Mile hopeful who has not raced since his unplaced run in last November's Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) won by Big Hearted.

"He was fresh, he hasn't raced for a few months. He was juiced out last year, I needed to get him right to see how he was," he said.

"Sometimes, you have to put the work in them and see how they take it. I must say he pulled up okay.

"I wanted to let him get some fitness from that trial. In fact, he's just a tad short of the fitness level I hoped he would be at now.

"He could use some more fitness. He will improve from that trial.

"His lead-up race to the Kranji Mile is the Class 1 race over 1600m next Saturday."

Staged as an invitational race with overseas runners from Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019, the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) will be run as a domestic event for the second year in a row, one of a slew of measures the Singapore Turf Club has taken to combat the negative impact the pandemic has had on our racing landscape.