Countofmontecristo is on for Sunday

With just a few days to go before the Raffles Cup, any morsel of information is good news for punters.

So it was on the training track at Kranji yesterday morning, attention was focused on two of its contenders - Countofmontecristo and Nova Strike.

And, boy, were they impressive in their workouts.

Already a big star in the north of Singapore, Countofmontecristo was on his toes when running the 600m in 37.1sec.

As for Nova Strike, he looked in excellent order when covering the same trip in 36.7sec.

"The Count" as he is affectionately referred to when punters gather to "talk horse", he was quite the rage at last year's event - which was then over the 1,800m, 200m longer than the revised trip of 1,600m.

They took a fancy to him after he had beaten Debt Collector in the Jumbo Jet Trophy just weeks earlier and then run second to Infantry in the Panasonic Kranji Mile.

So they suited him up, backed him down to second favourite and packed him off to do battle.

He put up a great fight but when the dust had settled he and his followers were left to lick their wounds as Countofmontecristo could manage only fourth spot, some eight lengths behind the winner and $222 outsider Gilt Complex.

The five-year-old has had a decent prep coming into this year's Raffles Cup contest - even if he didn't manage to land a blow in the Stewards Cup in June.

His last start was in the Emirates Singapore Derby in mid-July. He was never in the hunt, taking fifth spot behind Jupiter Gold.

But trainer Michael Clements has worked his charge well, sending him for two trials and, yesterday, for that hit-out on the training track.

Countofmontecristo is as right as a racehorse can be and it would not surprise if he runs a great race on Sunday.

Trainer Alwin Tan didn't have a runner in last year's contest but, come Sunday, he does seem to have a good one in Nova Strike.

A last-start winner - and what a good win it was - Nova Strike is a 10-time winner with smart credentials coming into the Raffles Cup.

The mile looks to be his caper. We saw it when he blitzed his rivals in the Moonbeam Vase just a fortnight ago.

That day, in that race over the mile, jockey Olivier Placais kept him on a tight rein right until they were deep in the home stretch.

With the winning post looming up, he asked his mount for an effort. Nova Strike gave all, running away over the final furlong to score by 1½ length.

The son of Red Giant, Nova Stike is a member of Kranji's millionaire club and, now that he has struck a rich vein of form, a big run in the Raffles can be expected.

Also on Sunday, there is plenty to suggest that King Louis will atone for that last-start defeat.

The four-year-old was striding out fluently when covering the 600m in a swift 35.9sec yesterday morning. Nooresh Juglall was in the saddle.

King Louis was sent off as the $9 favourite on Sept 2 but he was blown away by $17 second pick Sky Rocket, who came with a pulverising run to win by ½ length.

King Louis is one of a clutchful of young phenoms strutting their stuff. He'll be contesting the big ones next season but, for now, there's other business to attend to, like winning the El Dorado Classic on Sunday.

It'll be his first time over the staying trip of 2,000m but some of his previous runs suggest he can do the trip.

A fitting example would be his run in the Singapore Guineas in May. That was over the mile and King Louis was putting in his best work over the concluding stages of that 1,600m race. Mr Clint took the honours. King Louis lost no marks.