Feb 25, 2025

Last Samurai, Tavi Will Do and Flaming Phoenix also look smart ahead of their races

Trainer Jerome Tan, whose last winner was Schneider in the penultimate race on Feb 23, could be making tracks to the winner’s enclosure on March 1.

The Singaporean can achieve that, provided Super Baby brings his training form to the racetrack.

The four-year-old son of Deep Field looked like a good thing at his last start on Feb 16.

Backed down to second pick in the Class 3 race, he was always travelling well under Shafiq Rizuan but the Australian bay could not fire up over the concluding stages of that 1,400m contest. He had to settle for fourth behind the winner Emerald Lisi.

If you backed him and were looking for excuses, perhaps you could pin the blame on the distance. Super Baby might have found the 1,400m a tad too sharp.

While he has won once over that distance in a Class 5 race in Singapore on April 13, 2024, three of his five wins at Kranji were over longer trips, of which twice were on the 1,600m and once on the 1,700m.

He will next see action in the Metro A race over the mile at Sungai Besi on March 1 and he should have plenty of friends at the betting booths.

Their confidence would have stemmed from what they saw of him on the morning of Feb 25 when he champed on the bit to run the 600m in a nifty 37.2sec on a track which was rated yielding.

It was a winning gallop and Tan would have given him a good rub on the nose when he returned to the stables for that hose-down.

Last Samurai was another one that looked sharp on the training track.

Prepared for the races by Winson Cheng Han Yong, Last Samurai was unlucky not to have won at his debut in Kuala Lumpur.

That was on Feb 9 and in a Class 3 sprint over the 1,200m. He was involved in a fighting finish with Daylight who eventually won by a neck.

It was also heartbreaking for his Singaporean owner Kuah Cheng Tee, who used to train the son of First Samurai at Kranji.

Cheng and Kuah will be hoping for the best when Last Samurai trots to the start in the Class 3 race (1,200m) on March 1.

On the strength of his last-start second and, coupled with his most recent piece of work on the training track, they should carry confidence into the race. Hopefully, Last Samurai will deliver the slashing win for them like a good warrior.

Also engaged in the same race would be Tavi Will Do.

He was out for a morning run and did the 600m in 38.4sec. It was a good piece of work for trainer Siva Kumar, who won two races on Feb 23.

The Malaysian was all smiles when posing for the photographers after Billy Elliot’s victory in Race 3, but the yard would have celebrated even more when Noah Khan smashed his rivals to win by over a whopping five lengths in Race 8.

Siva has entered a small team of seven for the races on March 1. He will be looking for a good showing from the ex-Singapore galloper based on his nice work on the training track.

Then, there was Flaming Phoenix. If you were looking for speed from the morning gallops, Flaming Phoenix came through and delivered.

From trainer Tiang Kim Choi’s barn, the six-year-old filly by Hampton Court was in a galloping mood and she strode over the 600m in a flashy 36.8sec.

With 42 starts under her belt, Flaming Phoenix had her last run – and her first for the 2025 season – in a Class 4A event (1,300m) on Feb 9.

It was nothing to shout about. She was never in the reckoning and eventually finished a well-beaten sixth to Flying Success.

One has to go all the way back to July 7, 2024 to find the last time Flaming Phoenix won.

That day, and in the good hands of Ruzaini Supien, she came from a long way back to beat Hardcore by a nose in a Class 4A race (1,400m).

It has been a long wait between drinks for the connections of Flaming Phoenix. But there could be a silver lining somewhere in the near future and, if anything, she could be worth a flutter in that Class 4B race over the 1,400m on March 1.

With that good gallop on the training track, she should be among the top four. So, toss her into those novelty bets. She could help juice up the pot.

Source : Brian Miller