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In a perfect world, trainer Cliff Brown wished he could field all his best four-year-olds in this Sunday’s $1 million Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m), but going with the laws of ratings and arithmetic, a cut-off point had to be drawn somewhere – keeping his team to only two.
The good news for the Australian is his two-pronged attack in the third and final Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge is still potent – two-leg winner and clean sweep bidder What's New (pictured above) and the Elite Performance Stable's highly-rated Brazilian import Elite Quarteto.
Three other nominations missed the boat, and are on standby (along with Stephen Gray's King's Speech), but it's his English import Threeandfourpence just coming under the Top 16 that stings the most. The other two left out of the race are Gold Strike and Centenary Diamond.
An impressive last-start winner in a Class 3 race over 1400m on June 28, Threeandfourpence is also entered in the $70,000 Class 3 race (1800m) on the undercard, should he not run in the Derby.
Threeandfourpence was bought by the Forever Lucky Stable (managed by Josh McLoughlan) with the Singapore Derby as the primary goal.
He scored two UK wins (1200m and 1600m) from 10 starts for champion trainer Aidan O'Brien and raced overseas (Group 2 UAE Derby over 1200m and Grade 2 American Turf Stakes over 1700m) in royal company, albeit unplaced. He also boasts a glowing pedigree that makes him a full brother to Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It A Bomb and Cheveley Stakes winner Brave Anna (all by War Front out of Sadler's Wells dam Liscanna).
"They can't all get a run. Threeandfourpence is first EA and Michael Rodd is booked to ride him if he gets a run," said Brown who won the Singapore Derby in 2011 with Clint (the race was then sponsored by Emirates up until last year).
"I hope he gets a run, he has trained on since his last win and is in good shape. But what will be will be.
"He is also entered in the Class 3 1800m race which is very strong. It's a case of you miss one, and you run in the other."
While some may feel a sense of injustice Brown's arguably best chance might be left high and dry come Sunday, the unflappable trainer is a half-full kind of guy. He counts his blessings he has two good bullets, even if he is leaning more towards the Casino Prince mare.
"What's New won the last two Legs thanks to two tremendous rides (visiting Adelaide apprentice jockey Raquel Clark and Ben Thompson who retains the Derby ride).
"She had every advantage, and she won, and won well. Ben's ride was one of the greatest rides of all time, she was very fortunate.
"She has not gone backward since the Stewards' Cup (1600m) win (on June 30). The distance is an unknown, but look, she was placed (third) over 1800m once (Class 2 race on May 12), making ground.
"Elite Quarteto will need the trip. The 1800m is better than the first two (1400m of the Group 3 Silver Bowl and 1600m of the Stewards' Cup), but he's more of a Gold Cup horse.
"He will appreciate the 2000m more. He's at his third run and he's coming good.
"The blinkers come on, we will ride him more forward, and Noh Senari (aboard at debut in Silver Bowl) will ride him."
A Brazilian-bred son of Rock Of Gibraltar, Elite Quarteto is a five-time winner in Brazil when known as Quarteto De Cordas (String Quartet in Brazilian) including in one Group 1 race over 2400m, the Grande Premio Brasil last November, which gained him an automatic invitation to the US$4 million Breeders' Cup Turf, in which he finished 10th to global champion Enable.
Elite Quarteto holds pride of place in this year's Singapore Derby on 101 points with the lowest-rated being Mark Walker's Beau Geste and James Peters' Destroyer Eclipse, both on 57 points, but all runners will carry 57kgs except for What's New, who as the only mare in the feature race, will shoulder 55.5kgs.
The Group 1 Dester Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) is the third and final Leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series and will be run on November 10.
