Jason Lim has a feisty one in Grand Supreme
Alwin Tan’s Business Class leads all the way when winning his trial on Tuesday morning
Four race starts and a third to show. That is Grand Supreme for you.
He is coming on fine but he has yet to break through for that elusive first win.
However, right now, he has one thing going for him.
He comes from a yard that has been pretty successful this season.
We are talking about that young man, Jason Lim.
Currently holding down second spot in the trainers’ log with 20 winners – just two behind leader Michael Clements – Lim can, with the help of young horses like Grand Supreme, churn out more winners.
So far, there has been nothing “grand” or “supreme” about the Divine Prophet three-year-old.
But he appears to be running into a rich vein of form and, under Lim’s tutelage, he could soon be trotting into the winner’s circle.
Given the current situation with the club folding up in 16 months, has Grand Supreme got enough time to show his mettle before signing off?
Well, Tuesday’s win at the trials was a grand showing. We know he can also go faster than the 1min 00.71sec he recorded in that trial.
Rewind the clock and you will see that Grand Supreme won his second Kranji trial in 59.94sec. That was on Feb 2.
Yes, he can fly when he wants to.
So far, the best we have seen from him was that third placing in the race won by Rhett Butler on April 29.
It is now June and, hopefully, with natural progression, he has improved even more.
Well, his run on Tuesday was something to savour.
He tracked the leader, City Gold Wonder all the way down the back stretch and hit the front on straightening.
Up in the saddle, Manoel Nunes did not have to do much. Grand Supreme kept going to beat City Gold Wonder by a length.
Delilah, the mount of Ronnie Stewart, came home really well to slot in for third, a short head behind the runner-up.
Now comes the question. Can Grand Supreme translate that trial win into a race victory? We reckon it is doable.
Also on Tuesday we saw another good showing from a young galloper.
Business Class came through his hit-out in good fashion. He could be better than his record seems to suggest.
Four starts and he has yet to make the board.
Indeed, the best we have seen from him was a fifth of seven. That was at his last start.
That day, on May 14, Business Class finished almost five lengths behind Lim’s Denali in a 1,000m scurry.
He was never in the hunt but that was the closest he had ever been to the winner in a race.
Trainer Alwin Tan would have expected better.
After all, Business Class was not – so to speak – a bargain buy at the sales.
He went under the hammer for NZ$115,000 (S$94,000) – which is a princely sum to pay for an untested racehorse.
But the owners must have seen something in him and they will be hoping he can soon justify that purchase price.
Well, he was certainly something at the trials.
Ridden by Zyrul Nor Azman, the Winning Rupert four-year-old was quick to find the lead and, once there, he had the others chasing his shadow.
Into the home stretch, two other runners, Volcanic and Mr Big Brother, began to eat into his lead.
But Business Class kept them at bay, eventually beating Volcanic by 2½ lengths.
Business Class has been entered for the Maiden event over 1,200m on Sunday. If he takes his place in the race, you might want to give him plenty of thought.
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