Model of consistency Special King lived up to his $15 favourite tag to win the $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1100m on the Polytrack on Friday night.

Punters were certainly confident the Magnus colt would still oblige in spite of his horror gate in the outermost alley (12), and they were proven right when he came off a dream run on the inside for first-time partner Ryan Curatolo to reel in Elite Power (Vlad Duric), who was being hailed the winner at the 100m mark.

Marine Treasure (Zy Nor Azman) tried to make every post a winning one, but the staggers got to him inside the last furlong. He still did well to hang on for third place another two lengths away. The winning time was 1min 5.38secs for the 1100m trip.

Ryan Curatolo steers Special King to a solid win in the penultimate race, picture Singapore Turf Club

With Special King having soared to Class 3 company in such a short time – around a year – winning trainer Alwin Tan could raise his aim a little.

“He’s quite a consistent horse. I was worried about the wide draw, but Curatolo did a good job on him,” said the 2016 Singapore champion trainer.

“I can’t predict how far he will go, but if he keeps improving, I might run him in a trophy race one day.”

From the rave report given by Curatolo at the post-race interview, it won’t surprise if the Frenchman puts his hand up at Special King’s future endeavours, especially that win was a first for Tan.

“When Mr Tan and his assistant-trainer called me for the ride, I definitely confirmed I would take it,” said Curatolo.

“He’s a sweet horse and I had a perfect spot behind the leader. When I put pressure on him, he stretched out nicely and did it easily in the end.

“It’s my first win for Mr Tan. He’s a very good trainer and I have a lot of respect for him.”

With that fourth win, Special King has now taken his earnings past the $200,000 mark for his owner Leow Kwee Choon.