STAR PREVIEW: Nick Child’s Kranji Friday Preview

Firstly, I’d like to welcome everyone to this weekly blog covering all the action from Kranji, Singapore for the coming weeks ahead and it is of course, superb that we are able to continue racing behind closed doors and the betting public in the UK can enjoy the excellent racing that we are so lucky to have here in Singapore writes NICK CHILD (right). But most importantly, I hope everyone is managing to stay safe during this extremely tough time and hopefully we can beat the virus sooner rather than later and find some winners in the process.

This week at Kranji, we are treated to a very competitive card of nine races, starting at 6.20pm (local time) and all on the Polytrack with the ‘Feature’ race being race 7, a Class 1 Handicap over 1200m (6 Furlongs) at 9.20pm. The remainder of the card is made up of the usual array of class 5 races as well as some very intriguing class 4 contests, plus a handy class 3 for the sprinters at 9.50pm.

It is, however, the chief supporting race to the Class 1 where I find my best bet of the card on Friday night in the shape of Yulong Edition (2) in the Class 2 over the mile.

Trained by leading handler Mark Walker, this five-year-old son of the English Guineas winner Makfi has gone from strength to strength since arriving in Singapore, having formerly been trained by Archie Watson in the UK. A winner of a Kranji Stakes A race on turf last time out, he put away a good field on that occasion which included last year’s Singapore Derby winner (Sun Marshal) and Gold Cup runner-up (Gold Strike) and went to the line with a buffer of 2 ½ lengths and has a very handy record on the synthetic surface, the switch will do no harm to his claims on Friday.

A winner at Lingfield and Sandown when racing under the name of ‘De Medici’ in England, he is a go forward type and the booking of multiple champion jockey Vlad Duric (22.1% winning strike rate for 2020) is certainly a massive plus, especially on a front-runner. The improving nature of Yulong Edition is hard to look past and his connections are harbouring Gold Cup aspirations with him going forward, given the standard of this race, he won’t have it all his own way I wouldn’t imagine, the likes of King Louis and Black Jade, who has had a break and when last seen was runner-up in the final Group 3 of 2019 will give him something to think about, but for me they will be chasing the shadow of Yulong Edition up the Kranji home straight on Friday and his is my best of the night in race 5.

The following race of the night at Class 4 level is not the strongest ever seen at Kranji and it looks a gilt-edged opportunity for Prime Time (4)  to get his picture taken in the winner’s circle for the second time in his short career to date.

The Michael Clements trained three-year-old has had a good break having not been seen in action since early January. This son of Written Tycoon can go well fresh and had to cover extra ground last time out when eventually rattling home for third behind Water Rocket in a handy little novice heat. He has another disadvantageous barrier but if he can overcome that, he should be good enough to land this prize now he is in calmer waters and would look the one to beat for me with the in-form Louis Beuzelin (former Sir Michael Stoute apprentice) back on board for start number eight of his career in a race that really does lack any sort of depth.

The earlier Class 4 at 7.20pm over the same distance is where I find my ‘Value’ play of the evening with a horse that has uninspiring form figures coming into this heat, but don’t let that put you off.

The horse in question is Star Empire (3)  for one of only two female trainers here at Kranji, Leticia Dragon who does extremely well with her smaller string than most. An interesting runner returning after a break, he was last seen when failing to beat a rival in the Class 3 won by subsequent Group 2 winner Siam Blue Vanda when too keen early to see out the 1400m. His record over the course and distance is a good one and is now off a point lower mark (58) than when last successful. He looked very good in a recent trial and does go well fresh. Forget his last start, this is a much more suitable race.

The two-time winner in Singapore can also boast a decent record on this surface with form figures of 13U344 and he has plenty of positives in his corner to expect a bold showing, same may judge him strictly on recent form but if you delve into his profile, his chance certainly becomes a lot clearer given the fact he is fresh and has trialled better than a 58 rated horse recently and the return to Polytrack and a drop in grade make plenty of appeal to me in the third of the night and he can out-run decent odds.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Star Empire 2 Points EW in 12.20pm Kranji with
BACK Yulong Edition 2 Points win in 1.20pm Kranji with
BACK Prime Time 1 Point win in 1.50pm Kranji with

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PROFIT/LOSS SINCE JAN 1 2017: PROFIT 173.88 points
(Excluding Cheltenham 2021 antepost, Premier League ante-post, Six Nations Outright, Six Nations Specials, Labour Leadership Contest, Cameron Brown Football Bets, New Hampshire Primary)