Luxury Brand catches the eye

With the rah-rah and the cheers brought on by the running of the highly successful Singapore Derby and the Golden Horseshoe now over, one would think that it is back to the basics for race-goers.

Not quite.

Sunday’s 12-race card does hold promise of some fine races and, as a sort of preview, we saw some of the combatants strutting their stuff in style on the training track at Kranji on Tuesday morning.

There was Luxury Brand. He is down to contest the Class 4 sprint over 1,200m.

He had Yusoff Fadzli in the saddle when running the 600m in a flashy 39.6sec.

He will have to cross swords with Cheval Magnifique, who showed up in a 37.8 gallop, and newcomer V’Invincible, who clocked 38.1.

It will be a contest to savour.

The other Class 4 sprint over the 1,000m should also produce fireworks, with the likes of Bransom and Thunder Star facing off in that short and sharp run on the Polytrack.

Both youngsters will bring good form into that contest.

Bransom had Louis-Philippe Beuzelin doing the steering when navigating the 600m in an easy 40.5, while Manoel Nunes was on board Thunder Star who ran the trip in 36.1.

Back to that 1,200m spurt on grass, Luxury Brand does look like he is back to where he can do some serious damage.

From Donna Logan’s yard, his last three runs were – one could say – in “high-class” events.

On April 8, he ran third to January in the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m).

A month later on May 6, he found two in front of him when third to Coin Toss and Bestseller in the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1,400m).

And, on May 27, he found the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1,600m) too hot to handle and was beaten into seventh in that race won by his old nemesis, Coin Toss.

Now that he is back in a race over a more favoured 1,200m and against Class 4 company, we should see a better and brighter show from Luxury Brand.

His last win in February was over this track and trip. He has been freshened up with a good trial, where he finished a close second to Sacred Gift on July 18.

On those showings, Luxury Brand must figure in the reckoning on Sunday.

Well, Cheval Magnifique will have something to say about it.

The four-year-old is shaping up to be a really good one to have in the yard.

His five starts, since beginning his racing career on April 23, have produced a win, a second and a third placing.

That win on June 17 was in an Open Maiden event over the 1,200m and the sprinter he beat was none other than Delilah, who made it a pillar-to-post affair last Sunday under Jerlyn Seow.

Last time, on July 15, he let his backers down when he finished last to Lim’s Denali over the flying 1,000m.

There were excuses.

He had to race four wide and was unable to cross. It meant he was a spent force in the closing stages.

The Irish-bred is better than that and should be given another chance to prove his worth.

V’Invincible has staked his claims by winning his trial impressively on July 18. Nunes, who galloped him, will most likely get the ride.

The clash between Bransom and Thunder Star over the flying 1,000m is also a race worth waiting for.

Both registered wins on June 17.

Bransom beat a Novice field over the 1,200m on the Polytrack while, four races later, Thunder Star closed the programme with an all-the-way victory over Cash Cove and Our Secret Weapon.

That race was over the sharp sprint – which is the distance he has to negotiate on Sunday.

Until recently, Thunder Star was under the charge of Jason Lim but is now with Richard Lim.

An Australian gelding by Fighting Sun, Thunder Star has shown us that he possesses loads of speed.

Aside from that all-the-way win in June, he also won a trial in March. That day, when ridden by Nunes, he beat Bransom on the way to clocking a flashy 59.69 for the journey.

That was then. Now is now.

Trained by Stephen Gray, Bransom has certainly been paying for his board and lodging.

The son of Brazen Beau has had four outings at Kranji for two wins.

He opened his Kranji account with a win on debut. That was on Feb 25.

That day, over the 1,200m on grass, he went to the front on jumping and never surrendered that lead.

Then, at his last start on June 17, he added money to the kitty when running another forward race to beat Gold Governor by almost two lengths.

That was in a 1,200m race on the Polytrack.

With both front-runners Thunder Star and Bransom in fine fettle, the pair will be eyeballing each other all the way in that $50,000 race on Sunday.

Take your pick.

Tuesday's gallops:  track26.pdf