Dream Alliance has big plans

With racing taking a Christmas break, you would have expected the track at Kranji to be deathly quiet.

Wrong. Some of those on two legs took a breather and a good rest.

But Kranji’s handsome four-legged residents did not have that luxury.

The thud, thud, thud of hooves could still be heard on the morning of Dec 19.

The diehards who made their way to savour the crisp morning air on trackside were treated to some fine gallops by horses who might be racing on Dec 30 or, well, getting prepared for their 2024 campaign.

They saw Dream Alliance breeze over the 600m in 41.7sec.

Aniki did the same trip, running out the distance in a swift 36.1.

As for Silo, he was not out to make time and covered the 600m in 40.1.

Then there was Windfall. He was sharp and slick when completing his gallop in 37.8.

Taking it through alphabetically, Aniki ‘s gallop would have pleased trainer Alwin Tan.

A winner on Nov 25 – at only his second start – Aniki does look like he could make waves in 2024.

That win, which was over the Polytrack 1,100m, would have inspired confidence.

Sent out as the $15 favourite and in the capable hands of Vlad Duric, who knew he was onto a good thing, Aniki never gave his backers any anxious moments.

He cleared the chute cleanly and Duric settled him into third spot, as the pre-race second and third picks did the donkey’s work up front.

It was at the furlong mark that Duric clicked his mount into overdrive. Aniki did his bidding, racing away to win by almost two lengths.

Aniki arrived from Australia on June 25 with plenty of racing under his girth.

From 10 starts Down Under, he finished second thrice and, on three other occasions, he collected prize money for taking third.

He has got a future here. A pity that he will have only 10 months to prove it.

Then there was Dream Alliance.

This bloke has been a money-spinner for his owners, the Legacy Power Racing Stable, and his trainer, Tim Fitzsimmons, must surely hold him in high esteem.

And why not? Dream Alliance has had 16 starts for five wins.

It could have been more but we saw him beaten into second place on five other occasions.

Most recently, on Nov 11, he missed out on landing what would have been the biggest prize of his career, when having to settle for second to that brilliant Lim’s Kosciuszko in the Group 1 $1 million Singapore Gold Cup.

Well, he lost no marks and would made a trainload of new fans who must have been impressed by his gutsy show.

With in excess of $400,000 collected in prize money, Dream Alliance is inching close to the half-million dollar mark.

With natural progression, we might see him get within sniffing distance of that magical number.

Alas, if only he had more time and more races to contest. But, being the trier that he is, we should see him pick up a few more wins, even the big ones.

Silo will be remembered as the horse who, on Dec 9, gave apprentice Jerlyn Seow her fourth winner for the day.

It was the first time that the charming rider – Kranji’s only woman jockey – had scored a quartet of winners.

Who could blame her if she has a picture of Silo hanging somewhere prominent at home?

As for Silo, that was the second time he had beaten the field.

The first occasion was on June 3 when he ran home a winner in a Restricted Maiden event, beating Artillery by almost two lengths..

Still a three-year-old colt, he can be followed in his next couple of runs.

And then there was Windfall. He deserves better. It was at his eighth start that the three-year-old son of Justify finally put it all together and opened his Kranji account.

That was in a 1,200m race on Nov 18. That day, in a Restricted Maiden sprint for two and three-year-olds, Windfall played catch-me-if-you-can.

Well, the rest of the youngsters tried their best to catch him, but Windfall was not to be denied a maiden win.

Under a good ride from apprentice Rozlan Nazam, Windfall just kept getting stronger and he eventually held off a spirited challenge from Lim’s Jinba to win by almost a length.

If you were with him that day, this is the advice. Stick with him. Now that he has tasted victory, there could be more where that came from.

brian@sph.com.sg