As the first tier of the season was put astern at the end of April, reigning Singapore champion trainer Alwin Tan was in the best place he could have hoped for in his bid to defend his title – on top.

Barely six weeks later, the Singaporean handler had dropped by one spot in the Kranji standings. Nothing unusual as the driving seat often changes occupant in racing, especially as Tan was ahead by only one win on April 30 - but to plummet by a yawning gap of 16 winners within such a short time must have certainly rung the alarm bells in the Tan yard.

It is true that Walker, himself the Singapore champion trainer in 2015, enjoyed a purple patch with a haul of 21 winners during that time, but the main factor for Tan’s freefall was his own quiet time by his usual standards – four winners only, including only one winner in May, Nova Missile on May 28.

 

Tan is, however, not pushing the panic button. The halfway point is only a few weeks away, and the former Air Force regular said he had been prepared for such a speed bump around this time of the year.

“A lot of my Class 5 gallopers are retiring or going to Malaysia. Horses like Happy Happy have left already, Happy Money has just transferred stables (to Leticia Dragon) while Dragon G is going to Malaysia soon,” he said.

“The Class 5 horses helped me a lot in my first champion title last year. I knew when they left that things would slow down for me.

“I’ve also had a lot of seconds lately. We’ve really had no luck and my owners and I have been quite stressed over that drop.

“I have some horses who had some problems, but some are also coming back like Shadow Of War.

“So, it’s only normal we’ve had a quiet time recently, but things should pick up again. I have 16 new babies, two-year-olds and three-year-olds who I hope will bring their fair share of wins for us soon.”

This weekend, Tan is pulling out all the stops to stem the slide, saddling a bumper team of 23 runners (14 on Friday and nine on Monday). One horse Tan is pinning his hopes on to get the machine going full steam ahead again is his sole May winner Nova Missile.

The I Am Invincible three-year-old is one of three Tan runners entered in Friday’s $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1000m on Polytrack, and clearly the leading hope of the trio. The other two are Nova Warrior and Conflight, whose recent chequered forms, were not cause for much confidence in the Tan camp.

Nova Missile, on the other hand, beat his BM67 rivals rather easily at his last outing, which was run over Friday’s assignment’s distance – 1000m.

“Nova Missile pulled up well after his last run. He has a hoof problem and that’s why I can’t run him very often,” he said.

“I have to wait for his nail to grow out before I can change a new pair of shoes for him. But he is in a very good condition, he galloped very well yesterday (Tuesday), and I am confident he will run well.

“Unfortunately for Manoel Nunes (last-start winning partner), he is injured and we have booked John Sundradas, who does ride a fair bit for the owner (Nova Racing Stable).

“There are some new challengers in the race, so it won’t be an easy race, and here I think that Stephen Gray’s horse (Darci Bounty) will be the one to watch.

“Hopefully, there will be a good pace to the race. He is better suited when the pace is fast.”