Better be at the top of his game

Better Be The One is one of many examples of good horses put back on the right track when they return to racing “two stone lighter”, the gelding operation turning a talented but inconsistent sprinter in Australia into a consistent money-earner in Singapore.

With the cut came a name change, from Common Interest to Better Be The One (pictured), and for now at least BBTO is the best horse in the Singapore stable of trainer Michael Freedman, who  ‘inherited’ him from elder brother Lee in Victoria.

With his mind of the job, BBTO, the winner of five races in Australia (including two up the Flemington straight) before losing form has won three of six in Singapore and Dubai, with a third behind JJ The Jet Plane (in the G2 Al Quoz Stakes, 1000m, at Meydan in Dubai) and a second to Rocket Man (in the G1 Lion City Cup, 1200m, at Kranji) in Singapore at his past two starts.

With Rocket Man likely to start at “Black Caviar odds” in the Group 1 KrisFlyer Sprint (1200m) at Kranji in Singapore on

Sunday, BBTO appears to be fighting for a placing again, this time against Hong Kong duo Green Birdie and Sacred Kingdom, the conquerors of Rocket Man in the past two KrisFlyers – the pair have Australian connections, too, with NZ-born (but Australian-bred) Green Birdie winning in Melbourne as a 2YO way back in 2006 when trained by Brian Jenkins and Sacred Kingdom bred and sold in Victoria.

And Australian jockeys Glen Boss (Sacred Kingdom) and Brett Prebble (Green Birdie after being sacked after three seconds on end on SK) will ride them.

Another Australian, Danny Beasley, one of Singapore’s leading jockeys for several seasons, will ride BBTO.

Beasley, who rides probably 60 per cent of Freedman runners, knows he faces what is almost ‘mission impossible’ to get to the line ahead of Rocket Man, who beat him by five lengths in the Lion City Cup, but he is still putting a good spin on his chances.

He spoke of Rocket Man in Black Caviar terms, calling him a freak and saying his barrier trial at Kranji last week was just phenomenal.

“But my horse has really trained on since his Lion City Cup run,” Breasley told www.turfclub.com.sg. “To be honest, he lost his coat after the Dubai run, but he is a different horse now, a lot like how he was in Dubai.

“His appearance looks better, he is light on his feet, he’s sharp, looks around at everything and walks around with a purpose. Michael’s done a great job with him. He’s as good as he’s ever been.”
Breasley said the speed map for the KrisFlyer gave BBTO some hope. “(Rocket Man) had things his way in the Lion City Cup. Hopefully fast horses like Perfect Pins can put a bit of pressure on and make it less cushy for him this time.”

Freedman gets a chance to make a mark at the ‘prelim’ meeting on Friday night with his 2YOs Mr Big (Breasley) and Cash Luck (Boss) to run in the rich Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m) final – there’s a snag there, too, with local trainers suggesting the Dark Matter, trained by another Australian, Steven Burridge, pretty close to a good thing.

The Friday and Sunday meetings will be shown live on Australian pay television. Sunday’s card is headed by the G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m).

BREEDING

Rocket Man (b g 5, Viscount (AUS)-Macrosa (NZ), by McGinty (NZ))

Sacred Kingdom (b g 7, Encosta De Lago-Courtroom Sweetie, by Zeditave)

Green Birdie (b g 7, Catbird-Mrs Squillionaire, by Last Tycoon (IRE))

Better Be The One (b g 4, More Than Ready (USA)-Common Smytzer, by Snippets)