Rocket Star is all topped up for blast-off

Rocket Star has a flashy name, but his record is not so flashy these days.

Not many would be blamed if they do not plonk their hard-earned cash on a seven-year-old who has not won a race in more than three years, especially as he is still plying his trade among the top echelon at Kranji.

The Star Witness seven-year-old has not blasted off since that win over Charger in a Class 3 contest on Oct 25, 2020. But, to his credit, he has shown up and placed in the races which matter.

Like that runner-up spot behind Lim’s Lightning in the 2021 version of the Lion City Cup.

And that third placing in the Kranji Mile of that same year.

More recently he again took third in the 2023 Merlion Trophy and it kept his ratings in the 90s.

However, the win, to add to the four that he has already garnered, has not been forthcoming.

But, as they say, the cream always rises to the top.

And we saw it on Jan 30 when, at the trials, Rocket Star with his lofty rating of 91, beat the daylights out of his rivals over the 1,000m.

Arya Pakuan – with a rating of 49 – took second in that hit-out, a short head in front of Ejaz (72 points).

But if you were on hand to watch the proceedings, you would have said there was no way Rocket Star was going to come up tops.

Under Krisna Thangamani, he was sluggish coming out of the gates and although he did make up ground, he still had just one behind him when they fanned out for the run home.

Taken to the outside for clear running, he fashioned a run at the furlong mark and soon had the field covered.

He then took off, hit the front and just like that, he put lengths between himself and the chasing pack.

Thankfully for his rivals, the finish line came up soon enough and they were spared a real spanking.

Still, to win by almost five lengths over the short and sharp trip was something else.

If anything, it told us that there is still plenty of racing left in those ageing legs.

That trial on Jan 30 was his third since Dec 28 and it would have topped him up sufficiently for that next outing.

Hopefully, he will live up to his flashy name and blast off.

What about the beaten brigade?

Well, although finishing in third spot, Ejaz caught the eye.

Ridden by Manoel Nunes, he was never asked to do more than was necessary.

He was in third spot for most of the trip and looked to be striding out rather nicely at the business end of things.

Ejaz is, quite definitely, a star in the making. Then again, any galloper who has won four races from just five outings must be something special.

However, he has not faced the starter in close to 11 months.

His last race which brought up his fourth win was on March 12, and the trial on Jan 30 was his first since that victory.

Still, there was nothing to suggest that the layoff affected him.

There was no rustiness in that chestnut frame of his. He galloped freely and Nunes would have had only good things to report back to trainer Steve Burridge.

Indeed, come Feb 3, Ejaz will have his first race outing under Burridge who inherited the galloper when Michael Clements pulled the plug on his Kranji operations in September.

Ejaz has been entered for the Class 2 sprint over the flying 1,000m and victory there would bring up his fifth win on the trot.

On paper, it may look like the Street Boss four-year-old could be short of a run. But his showing at the trials tells us a different story.

Ejaz is back near his best and although it is a big jump from Class 4 to Class 2, his four wins to date do seem to suggest that we have yet to see him at his best and, yes, in his case anything is possible.

brian@sph.com.sg