Debt Collector primed for QE II
Big guns in Sunday's races strut their stuff in training
With a bumper weekend of racing coming up on Sunday, some of the big guns in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Garden City Trophy came out firing.
And, as we have come to expect from Kranji's king, the best hit-out of the morning came courtesy of Debt Collector.
Taken out by Michael Rodd, the 115-rater had Gold Reward for company when clocking 38sec for the 600m.
It was an inspiring piece of work from the six-year-old.
Yes, he, who drew the ooh and ahhs from the crowd when he came with that blistering run in front of the grandstand to capture the Lion City Cup just last month, again drew the applause from those at trackside yesterday morning.
And why not? Debt Collector is in such rattling form at the moment that he just might be sent off as top fancy in the million-dollar race.
Yesterday's gallop came on the back of an outing at the trials. That was just last week and he lost no marks when finishing second to Faaltless on Oct 11.
After all, by now we know that he's a pussycat at the trials - winning none of the 15 he has had so far.
I reckon it's simply a case of him always saving his best for the big day.
Let's see how it goes for Debt Collector in the QE II.
Also out for a morning spin ahead of the 1,800m race was Jupiter Gold. He had Olivier Placais in the saddle when he reeled off the 600m in 35.1sec. He had a stablemate as a galloping companion.
Another member of Kranji's millionaire club, we will come into the contest buoyed by plenty of support from the racing public.
While he could manage only a third behind Debt Collector in the "Raffles", punters will remember him for that monster of a performance in the 1,800m Emirates Singapore Derby run in July. That day, when race favourite Elite Invincible was shouted the winner midway down the stretch, it was Jupiter Gold - the $34 chance - who powered home to take the prize in no uncertain terms.
Then, and as if to demonstrate his versatility he went out - in his very next outing - to win a 1,200m sprint on the Polytrack.
Such are the hallmarks of a good horse and, come Sunday, Jupiter Gold will surely give his backers another run for their money.
Trainer Cliff Brown, who saddles Debt Collector, could have a big day if Mister Yeoh, his entry in the Garden City Trophy brings his trackform to the races.
With Rodd on the reins, the four-year-old was on his toes when running the 600m in 37sec.
A galloper with a great future ahead of him, Mister Yeoh will come into Sunday's $200,000 feature as a last-start winner, having won a similar sort of race in late September.
Expect him to be prominent at the business end of things.
Another last-start winner - and maybe the race favourite on Sunday - Be Bee also showed up on the training track. In the company of stablemate and "Garden City" rival, Faaltless, the duo ran the distance in 37.5sec.
Prepared by Shane Baertschiger, Be Bee has been a source of joy for his owners, the Sungs of Auric Stable.
Just once from seven outings has he missed making the board and, after that brilliant win over Rafaello in a Kranji Stakes A sprint over the 1,200m last month, don't bet against him being out of the top three on Sunday.
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