Feb 4, 2025

Ex-Kranji gallopers Flying Success and Navy Seals work well ahead of their races

Trainer Frank Maynard ended the race meeting at Sungai Besi on Feb 2 on a winning note when Sacred Sky ($24) took home the last race – and, if anything, it does look like the Australian handler could saddle a couple more in the races to come.

He has a capable team of nine runners entered for the action on Feb 9, and he sent a handful of them out for gallops on the training track on the morning of Feb 4.

Among them, Flying Success and Navy Seals impressed trackwatchers. In separate gallops over the 600m, they clocked 38.4sec and 38.2sec respectively.

Flying Success will line up in the RM45,000 (S$13,700) Class 4A event over the tricky 1,400m. Maynard will be eager to make up for that bit of disappointment at his last start on Jan 26, when he ran fourth to dead-heaters Stop The Water and Snow Dragon.

The Headwater four-year-old is better than that.

Racing fans saw what he was capable of when he charged home from just off the lead to beat a highly competitive Open Maiden field over the 1,250m on Jan 4.

Flying Success, who was trained by James Peters previously, is going places. To date, he has won five times and placed once in his 12 starts in Singapore and Malaysia. Keep an eye on him.

As for his stablemate Navy Seals, he is still finding his footing in his new stables at Sungai Besi. When the four-year-old son of U S Navy Flag finally “feels at home”, you can expect him to start showing off.

Formerly trained by Tan Kah Soon, Navy Seals went to Malaysia after his last race at Kranji on Sept 28. He left on a winning note, beating Pacific Dream over the staying trip of 2,000m.

The Class 4B race over 1,300m on Feb 9 is as short as he would want, but he looks to be in good enough form – suggesting he merits serious consideration when you are mapping out your strategy for those exotic bets.

Outside of Maynard’s yard, Pacific Bravo and Perseverance, trained by Jason Ong and Parama Sivan Veerapen respectively, could also fare well on Feb 9.

Though winless at his five starts thus far, Pacific Bravo is better than that.

The Written Tycoon five-year-old messed up at the start on Jan 26 but, to his credit, he came home well enough to take fifth in the race won by Lightning Gal.

He would have benefited from that outing and with the string of Pacific Stable-owned horses making waves up north, Pacific Bravo might just be ready to join the party.

As for Perseverance, Sivan has been very patient with him.

The first and last time the Impending four-year-old won a race was on Aug 24, 2024.

It was another one of those Open Maiden events where frisky youngsters do battle – trying to get their first win on the board. Perseverance was backed down to short odds and he did not disappoint over the 1,400m.

Ridden by apprentice Clyde Leck, he came home with big, bounding strides to justify all that confidence in him.

He beat So We Fight by two lengths. Since then, So We Fight has gone on to win three races while Perseverance has had just two unplaced outings.

From his hard work on the training track, Perseverance looks like he is ready to get involved in the serious business of winning races again.

Watch him in the Class 5A race (1,500m) on Feb 9. Sivan has found a nice race for him and it looks right up his alley.

Source : Brian Miller