Filial Dragon breathes fire in sizzling hit-out

Come on, give that guy a break. Twice before – in his last two starts – Filial Dragon had to settle for second best.

Both times, he carried stable confidence and was not beaten by much.

Richard Lim, his trainer, and the Hor Siew Stable, his owner, would have felt gutted.

Well, as they say, “that’s racing”. You win some, you lose some.

However, you live to fight another day and, in the case of Filial Dragon, that “other day” could come rushing at him.

He is down to contest the Class 4 Division 1 race over 1,200m on Jan 20 and, in his final preparation for that seventh start, Lim put Filial Dragon through his paces on the training track on Jan 16.

Ridden by Koh Teck Huat, Filial Dragon was in full flow, running the 600m in a swift 35.7sec.

Lim, who would surely have been watching at trackside, would have said “now, that’s more like it”.

He would have been spot-on. After all, the workout on Jan 16 was full of merit.

He did the job fluently and, if he brings that form to the racetrack on Jan 20, he could hand his rivals a beating and bring his winning tally to two.

Actually, it was not too long ago that Filial Dragon opened his Kranji account.

That was in a 1,200m sprint on Oct 28. That day, when handled confidently by Koh, Filial Dragon came off a midfield spot to beat Song Of Nature by 1½ lengths in 1min 09.51sec on the grass.

If it worries you that he must handle the Polytrack in the upcoming assignment, well, have no fear.

Filial Dragon will make light of the underfoot conditions.

It was only on Dec 17 that he almost romped home a winner – only to be beaten by a short head by Last Samurai on the Poly.

Next up on Jan 6, he again found one to beat, going down to Golden Brown, also on the synthetic surface over the 1,200m.

Yes, Filial Dragon is the real deal. He certainly looks to be one of the better gallopers in Lim’s power-packed team of 20 entered for the Jan 20 meeting.

The other runner who could raise Lim’s stock is Mr Black Back.

He, too, showed good action in his training gallop, when running the 600m in 38.7sec. Manoel Nunes was the man in the saddle.

Slotted to run in the $85,000 Class 2 race over the mile, Mr Black Back comes into the race on the back of a more than decent last-start show on Dec 2.

That day, in the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1,700m), he finished fourth in the race won by Bestseller.

The race conditions did not favour Mr Black Back, as it was run over the Poly as opposed to the grass.

It was not that Mr Black Back could not handle the Poly. But it certainly was not his preferred surface, as all his three wins have been on the turf.

He will get that in the event that is coming up.

The gallop on Jan 16, which followed a runaway trial win on Jan 11, would have topped him up sufficiently for what lies ahead.

But it is not going to be a romp in the park and two runners who could make Mr Black Back sweat are Relentless and In All His Glory.

Both talents are from trainer Tim Fitzsimmons’ yard and both were among the stars who showed up for work on a drizzly morning at Kranji.

Relentless, partnered by Vlad Duric, ran the 600m in 41.3, while In All His Glory went a tad faster, stopping the clock at 40.2.

A five-time winner, Relentless has been a good horse for the Arexevan-Relentless Stable – even though he has not won a race since June 26, 2022.

But Fitzsimmons has worked on him “relentlessly” and his trial on Jan 11, when second to Mr Black Back, would have given his connections plenty of hope.

As for In All His Glory, Fitzsimmons pulled him out from a 1,000m trial on Jan 16 and instead sent him for a 600m gallop.

He did a decent job but he must be at the top of his game on Jan 20.

After all, it will be the second time in a long career that he faces Class 2 opposition.

The first time was way back on Nov 5, 2022, and that day he was fifth in a race won by Minister.

Since then, he has been plying his trade in Class 3 and 4 and the step-up to Class 2 will surely be a test.

But the seven-year-old will get into the race with a light weight of just 50kg on his back and, if the rest are not wary, he could puncture some big egos.

brian@sph.com.sg