Trainer Cliff Brown may well have a third Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge candidate waiting in the wings after former Victorian Mister Yeoh ran his rivals ragged on debut on Sunday.
The Australian handler already has Filibuster and Zac Kasa aimed at the famed 3YO series which kicks off with the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on March 30.
A son of Wanted, Mister Yeoh certainly gave a strong push for his eventual inclusion in Team Brown following his 7 ¼-length romp in the $45,000 Class 4 Non Premier race over 1200m, but Brown was as usual treading carefully.
Mister Yeoh (Michael Rodd) cruises away to an easy win at his Kranji debut, picture Singapore Turf Club
“Possible, but let’s see how he pulls up. I still need to speak to the owner Nick Turnbull, who is a good friend of mine and used to own Fitzroy here,” said Brown.
“This horse had two starts in Australia and was quite unlucky. That’s why we brought him here and it is a good advertisement for Singapore.
“I thought he’d be very hard to beat first-up, but I didn’t expect him to win like that. He will come on a lot from that first run.”
The race was probably won from barrier rise when Mister Yeoh ($20) overcame his outermost alley to take the lead without using too much petrol.
Other than Flash One (Nuh Komari) keeping him company early, Brown’s newcomer did not have much opposition to worry about throughout the first half of the race. Once jockey Michael Rodd gave a few shakes of the reins, the race was all over bar the shouting.
With Mister Yeoh in one race and the rest in another, Rodd could afford to sit up and pose for the cameras at the wire. Golden Thunder (Ryan Curatolo) won the battle for the minors, one and a quarter length ahead of Secret Squirrel. The winning time was 1min 9.39secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
“I didn’t expect him to run that well today, but he showed he could gallop in his work in the morning,” said Rodd.
“No disrespect to the others, but he did not beat a very strong field today. He is quite a laid-back horse and we may need to put the blinkers on to switch him on.
“I’m still trying to digest that run today, but on that run, you’d have to consider him for the 3YO series.”
