All geared up for Golden Horseshoe

Fasten your seatbelts – because, come Sunday, you could be in for an awesome ride.

Not only will it be the glamorous Singapore Derby Day.

We will also get to see some of our top two-year-olds doing battle in the Group 3 Singapore Golden Horseshoe sprint over the 1,200m.

With an early thunderstorm interrupting gallops on Tuesday morning, some of the hopefuls for the $110,000 race were the crowd pleasers.

But, like it is with frisky juveniles, the rainy weather did not diminish their enthusiasm.

Indeed, there were flourishing sprints from the youngsters and, you could say, the stage is now set for a beautiful Sunday.

Taking it top down, there was Bakeel. He had Manoel Nunes in the saddle when running the 600m in 38.9sec.

Then there was Artillery (Simon Kok) and stablemate Rhett Butler (Yusoff Fadzli). They ran out the trip 41.1 and 38.1 respectively.

Newcomer Cheerful Baby also made an appearance. He had A’Isisuhairi Kasim on board and he looked good in that 41.7 gallop.

As promised, let us get back to Bakeel.

A debut winner from the Michael Clements yard, Bakeel races in the colours of the Al-Arabiya Stable.

And, from what we saw of him in that debut on July 2, there is huge potential in that frame of his.

That day, when ridden by Nunes, he went full throttle in the home stretch to consign his rivals to another race – that for second spot.

Bakeel eventually won his race by almost two lengths.

In fairness, many saw it coming.

Just a fortnight earlier, on June 22, Nunes steered Bakeel to win a trial by three lengths.

It was a commanding performance and he brought it to the races.

Bakeel was a $95,000 purchase as a yearling and he arrived at his Kranji home in March.

From what we have seen of him so far, he should go to the start as one of the top fancies in Sunday’s contest.

Like Bakeel, the Donna Logan-trained Rhett Butler was also a debut winner.

His victory, which came on April 29, was impressive.

But, after his last start, he might have lost some fans.

That day, with apprentice Jamil Sarwi entrusted with the reins, his admirers crowded the betting windows and sent him off as the red-hot $10 favourite.

Sad to say, Rhett Butler let them down badly. Indeed, he never had a look-in.

He shifted out shortly after the start and, when the going got serious in the straight, he found himself in a traffic jam and was held up for a few strides.

Forget that run. It was, most likely, an off-day for the son of Charm Spirit.

When Sunday comes, remember that showing on April 29 and stick with him when you are planning a hit on those novelty bets.

That day in April, when partnered by Yusoff, he did what Bakeel did in his race. He came with a huge finishing burst to get the chocolates.

Artillery is a nice horse in the making. He stepped up on his debut second to score emphatically on the same day as Bakeel.

Consistent, he will have plenty of admirers.

Will this trio swamp their rivals in the Golden Horseshoe?

Well, Cheerful Baby might have something to say about it.

Yet to face the starter in a race, he was ultra impressive in his trial on July 11.

That day, when partnered by Benny Woodworth, Cheerful Baby teased his rivals over the 1,000m.

Out of the chute in a flash, the Jerome Tan-trained runner claimed the lead after just 50m and never gave it back.

The others in the trial tried their best to reel him in but, on the day, Cheerful Baby was in no mood to let anything spoil his party.

While Woodworth did urge him along in the early part of the trial, he eased up on him over the concluding stages.

Even so, the son of Brazen Beau went on to score with a huge dose of authority.

He did not break the minute mark – clocking 1min 01.53sec – for the trip.

But it was a vast improvement on his first trial on June 28, when he ran fifth to Pacific Victory.

If anything, that all-the-way win at his second trial was a huge wake-up call to his rivals in Sunday’s Group Three feature.

His name may not sound intimidating but he will not be easily bullied. If treated with kid’s gloves, he will not need a horseshoe for luck.

Instead, if allowed to dictate things on his terms, he could give his rivals something to chase.

It was a little quiet from the Derby camp.

Only Elite Legend, Sousui (Krisna Thangamani) and Istataba (Kok) galloped – in 38.2, 35.9 and 37.2 respectively. All looked well.

The big guns – like Super Salute, Golden Monkey and stablemate Dream Alliance – should be out for their final gallops on Wednesday morning. Watch out.