The connections of the world’s former top-ranked sprinter Rocket Man will wait until after he races in Singapore on Sunday before beginning to think about taking on the current world number one in Melbourne in the spring.
Rocket Man runs in the $S1 million Group One KrisFlyer International Sprint (1200m) at Kranji in a bid to avenge second placings in the past two runnings of Singapore’s feature sprint and to show he is a worthy challenger to champion Australian sprinter Black Caviar.
Trainer Patrick Shaw said he was aware of a bid to lure Rocket Man to Melbourne for a “match” with Black Caviar in the revamped Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington in November.
“It’s an interesting proposition, but we have a lot to think about, including Sunday’s race,” Shaw said.
Rocket Man is again a warm favourite to win the KrisFlyer, despite being opposed by the Hong Kong pair Sacred Kingdom who beat him in the same race two years ago and Green Birdie, who repeated the dose last year.
The son of Australian stallion Viscount completed his preparation with light exercise at Kranji on Saturday after a week in which he sat set the track alight.
On Tuesday Rocket Man dashed over 600 metres in 33.9 seconds with race jockey Felix Coetzee up and then was equally impressive on Friday in a slower piece of work.
“He’s all ready to rock and roll,” Shaw said after supervising the gelding’s work on Saturday.
In Sunday’s other feature, the $S3 million Group One Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m), the Hong Kong-trained California Memory seems assured of favouritism ahead of a field that would enhance any international race in the world.
The widely-travelled Presvis, who has clocked up 50,000 kilometres in his travels, is out to avenge his luckless run in this race for the past two years and is likely to be the closest challenger to California Memory in betting markets.
Presvis broke through to win the Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night at Meydan in March and has since finished a luckless sixth behind Ambitious Dragon in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.
But on the evidence of Friday’s racing at Kranji where leaders had a distinct advantage, the Luca Cumani-trained galloper could have a problem.
Presvis has a distinct inability to take up any position in a race, a characteristic that consistently ruins his chances.
“There are things that we can’t do anything about,” assistant trainer Matt Cumani said.
“I hope there is some pace in the race.”
AAP TURF
