Hunter’s Light on course for Singapore test
Bin Surour-trained galloper to step- up preparation for upcoming $3m race
Dubai: Godolphin-trained Hunter’s Light is expected to produce a fast run on the polytrack at Kranji racecourse on Wednesday as he builds up to the $3 million (Dh11.01 million) Singapore Airlines International Cup (G1) on May 19.
Trained by Saeed Bin Surour, the five-year-old son of Dubawi has been out jogging each morning ever since his arrival in Singapore on May 1.
Wednesday’s race aims to sharpen him up for the stiff test that he faces when he takes on a heavy-duty international field in Singapore’s most prestigious race in two weeks’ time.
Hunter’s Light won three races on the trot at Meydan this season before his seventh-place effort behind Animal Kingdom in the $10 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup on March 30.
Bin Surour’s charge is no stranger to testing international assignments, either, having previously travelled to Turkey to compete in the Group 2 Anatolia Trophy last September, a race that he won in handsome fashion by five lengths, before catching a flight to Italy where he upstaged a top-class field in the Group 1 Premio Roma.
Hunter’s Light also has a score to settle in Singapore and end Bin Surour’s 11-year drought in the Singapore Airlines International Cup, a race that the handler has not won since Grandera struck in 2002.
Meanwhile, the fields for Singapore’s big-race meeting, which also features the $1 million KrisFlyer International Sprint, have attracted a strong international entry from around the world.
Among Hunter’s Lights rivals are triple Group 1 winner Pastorius from Germany and Hong Kong’s Military Attack, an impressive winner of the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the end of April.
Pastorius, whom Mario Hofer trained to win the German Derby, finished fourth behind the great Frankel in the QIPCO Champion Stakes last October before he returned to action this season to take the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on April 28.
Leading Europe’s charge are Dubai World Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux and Mull Of Killough. Red Cadeaux won the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Vase last December and was an eye-catching third in the Group 1 Tenno Sho over a testing 3,200m in Japan on April 28.
Mull Of Killough, trained by Newmarket-based Jane Chapple-Hyam, has won his last three starts, including the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket last month.
Better Life and Flax are the home hopes, Meanwhile. Better Life won the Group 1 Longines Singapore Gold Cup, while Flax finished third in last year’s edition of the SIA Cup behind Chinchon and Zaidan.
Emirates Singapore Derby runner-up Deep Pockets, Patrick Shaw’s Admiralty Classic Stakes winner Lizarre and Laurie Laxon’s JBBA Moonbeam Vase winner Ready To Strike are other notable contenders.
