Super Salute should bowl rivals over

So, you – like so many others – will be looking for that big “red packet” on Feb 11. Who is not?

It will be the second day of the Year of the Dragon and a winning pick in the Fortune Bowl will be auspicious.

If anything, it could set the tone for the new year.

Well, here is the thing. It is not going to be all that easy.

Right now, on paper, the field being assembled is a real head-scratcher – even for the astute form-watchers out there.

For one thing, we should see a full field of 16 contest the $110,000 sprint over the 1,400m.

And itis going to be difficulttryingto “separate the wheat from the chaff”.

As expected, many of the runners for the Group 3 event were out in force bright and early for their workouts on Feb 6 and, under a brilliant sky, they each did their thing with gusto.

Showing a spring in his step was Super Salute. He ran the 600m in 36.7sec with Manoel Nunes in the saddle.

Bestseller gave apprentice Rozlan Nazam the proverbial armchair ride when running the same trip in a flashy 36.9.

Then there was Invincible Tycoon. He did it in 41.1 – and there was nothing shabby aboutthat hit-out.

Pacific Emperor (IskandarRosman) then skipped over the distance in 37.6.

But that was not all.

Late in the morning, the Stephen Gray pairing of Kharisma and SilentIs Gold made an appearance.

They worked together until Kharisma – with champion apprentice Jerlyn Seow doing the steering – pulled away to run the trip in 38.5.

Silent Is Gold ambled home in 39.8 with apprentice Jamil Sarwi astride.

But the one most at trackside were interested in hadto be the work put in by that super horse, Super Salute.

He will trot in to the Fortune Bowl on the back of a victory in the Group 3 New Year Cup (1,200m), which he won in style.

It was his ninth victory – and he is hardly done yet. He just keeps on getting better.

Remember, he put in seven in a row until that sequence of victories was broken when he ran second to Golden Monkey in the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) on July 2.

Come Feb 11, the RichardLim-trained five-year-old will want to put a hat-trick on the board and he might just do it.

That is provided Bestseller fails to throw in a whopper of a run.

Prepared by Ricardo Le Grange, Bestseller has been racing generously and victory in the Fortune Bowl will be his fourth off the bounce.

Having not had a race since winning the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1,700m) on Dec 2, Le Grange sent him to the trials on Feb 1.

He came out of that one without any problems, running third behind Dream Alliance, who is also a Fortune Bowl contender.

The Fortune Bowl’s trip of 1,400m is probably the shortesthe wants to attempt. But you will be doing yourself a disservice if you choose to ignore him.

The same could be said for Invincible Tycoon. A son ofI Am Invincible, he likes to finish off his races with a flourish.

So, when you are at the races on Feb 11 and the Fortune Bowl comes up, watch for the familiar colours of the Lim’s Stable.

It will be the silks of the jockey on board Invincible Tycoon who should be flying home at the business end of things.

Another one who will bring form into the race is Silent Is Gold.

An out-and-out sprinter – six of his seven wins have been over the 1,200m – Silent Is Gold is no stranger to the Bowl distance of 1,400m.

Flashback to April 29 and there you have it.

Backed down to $9 on the win, Silent Is Gold, under a vigorous ride from apprentice Fahmi Rosman, led from pillar to post to beat War Pride in a Class 3 contest over the 1,400m.

More victories followed and the one that really stood out was that last-start effort onJan20.

Gray entered him in that Class 1 sprint over the 1,200m. It featured, among others, the likes of Kranji heavyweights Golden Monkey, Invincible Tycoon, Street Of Dreams and King Arthur.

Well, as the race panned out, SilentIs Gold – ridden by Jamil – was not intimidated. He took the race with a breakaway at the first turn and never looked back.

Ridden hard, Silent Is Gold held off Golden Monkey by a neck.

This one coming up could bea littlemore difficult but, you can bet, when push comes to shove, this five-year-old will have plenty to say.

brian@sph.com.sg