Trainer Leslie Khoo is a quiet achiever. He seldom makes the headlines and, when his horses do good, you do not hear him beating a drum and shouting it out from the rooftops.
The former top local jockey just puts his shoulder to the wheel and gets on with the job.
Well, Khoo could have bragging rights on Sept 28. As usual, he will be represented by a small team.
Indeed, he has only two runners – Aniki in the main race of the day, a Class 3 1,200m affair, and Charismatic in the Class 5 sprint over 1,200m – in the Sept 28 meeting.
Of the two, Aniki could be the one who brings home the bacon.
He turned in a winning gallop on the morning of Sept 24 and, if he carries that form to the races, could make it a pillar-to-post affair on Sept 28.
Back to that workout, Aniki had Bruno Queiroz in the saddle and the pair did not leave anything to the imagination.
Taking off from the back straight, the Outreach five-year-old turned up the tempo and brought his Brazilian rider home in a really fast time of 34.6sec for the 600m.
It was a staggering time – one of the fastest seen on the training track recently and Khoo, who took over Aniki from Alwin Tan in June, could already be dreaming of what could just be his seventh winner for the season.
Two of Aniki’s four victories have been over track and trip and while he has been winless for six months – his last win was in a Class 3 1,400m race on March 30, when he deadheated with January – he has been showing good action in his recent races.
Last time out, on Sept 14, the Australian-bred gelding tried to use his early speed to steal victory but he was run down over the closing stages and had to settle for third in that Class 3 1,400m race won by Energy Baby.
This time round, Aniki will be involved in a power-packed sprint, with the likes of Lim’s Bighorn, Ravalli and Energy Baby all in terrifying form and lying in wait.
But do not hold that against the four-time winner. He is in a good space and Khoo has him as tight as a piano wire. So, if it comes down to trading blows over the final stretch, you can bet Aniki will land a few sweet punches.
Aside from Aniki, there were a couple of other good ones who caught the eye on the training track. We are talking about the James Peters-trained Last Supper and Forest Gold.
Last Supper worked well with jockey Daniel Moor in the saddle, running the 600m in 44.2, while Forest Gold had the services of Wong Chin Chuen when covering the same trip in 42.6.
Last Supper will see action in the Class 4 sprint over 1,200m on the undercard.
Already a three-time winner from just eight starts, the Grunt four-year-old is a genuine campaigner who seems comfortable in Class 4.
As for his recent form, it cannot be faulted. After soundly beating Surrey Hills over the 1,000m on June 16, Peters entered him for two more races.
Both times, while not winning, he added cash to the kitty. He was distinctly unlucky to go down narrowly to Pacific Commander on July 13 and, at his last start on Aug 25, he was a good thing beaten when fourth to the very talented Ravalli.
That done, Peters sent him to the trials. That was on Sept 19 and the Australian-bred gelding enjoyed the stretch-out, finishing fourth to Lonhro Gold in 1min 00.13sec.
That trial, and his gallop on Sept 24, would have topped him up sufficiently for a good showing on Sept 28.
Forest Gold will see action in the Class 5 staying race over 2,000m. A stout-hearted galloper, he has placed third over this trip – finishing less than two lengths behind Split Second in a Class 5 Division 1 event on April 27.
At his last start on Sept 1, Forest Gold came from a fair way back at the home turn to run second to Ben’s Champion in a Class 5 1,600m event. At the post, he was just a nose away from claiming his second career victory.
Like Last Supper, Forest Gold was also at the trials on Sept 19 and he also did well, losing out by the narrowest of margins to Navy Seals.
That day, the four-year-old Australian-bred gelding by Star Witness clocked a more than decent time of 1:00.58 for the short and sharp 1,000m.
Peters has him in a good place right now and, in what could well be his last race in Singapore, the Gold Stable could taste success.
Over the years, they have been staunch supporters of Singapore racing and it will be nice seeing their colours carried to victory.
