Gate five gives Irian plenty of options

The John Moore-trained Irian is poised to change tactics under jockey Darren Beadman in Sunday's Group One Singapore Airlines International Cup (2,000m) after drawing the ideal gate five at the Singapore Turf Club's official barrier draw yesterday.

Two of Hong Kong's other runners were given the customary 'visitors draw', with fellow SAI Cup contender California Memory (gate 13) and defending KrisFlyer International Sprint champion Green Birdie (barrier 10) both handed outside gates.

Sacred Kingdom, former world champion sprinter and 2009 KrisFlyer winner, drew handily in gate six for new jockey Glen Boss, but it was Irian's connections who were most positive about their luck yesterday.

'I said to the owner Siu Pak-kwan before the draw that anything inside gate six will give us a lot of options, and judging from what we've seen of the other horses in the Cup, we are definitely of the mind to have the horse much closer to the speed than usual,' Moore said.

'There's no readily identifiable pacemaker in this race, which can be a worry if you have to be positioned back in the field, but from five, we should have the option to be up in the first four.''

Beadman, out through a careless-riding suspension for the past two meetings, was on hand at Kranji yesterday morning to steer Irian in his final serious gallop.