Leading trainer John Moore will make an on-the-spot decision about the work regime for Dan Excel and Military Attack at Kranji this morning after an inspection of the pair ahead of Sunday's S$3 million (HK$18.8 million) Singapore Airlines International Cup.
The trainer's son, George, was in charge as the two horses moved along in leisurely style for a lap and a half of the polytrack surface in what was little more than a stretch of the legs. "It was just a normal canter on the polytrack today. They will breeze up at three-quarter pace on Thursday, most probably on the polytrack again, but dad will decide when he gets in," George said.
Moore was due to arrive last night in Singapore to oversee the final preparations of his two Group One winners, after their travel across from Hong Kong on Sunday did not pass without some negatives. "Military Attack and Dan Excel lost a little bit of weight on the journey, not a considerable amount, but you know it can get pretty hot down in Singapore," the trainer said on Tuesday. "A few more days and I think Military Attack will be back on his feed 100 per cent and we'll just gauge whether we do any work with them on Thursday. Dan Excel's really got back into his tucker quickly. He's a warhorse this fella."
Lucky Nine's trainer, Caspar Fownes was headed the other way, rushing back to last night's Happy Valley card after watching seasoned traveller Lucky Nine do a similar unstressed piece of work on the turf surface. The multiple Group One winner is having his fifth trip overseas and he did little more than canter a lap before lifting to just better than half pace down the straight.
He is headed for the S$1 million KrisFlyer International Sprint, 1,200m on Sunday, a race that Fownes already has in his résumé thanks to Green Birdie's victory three years ago.
"I couldn't be happier with him. He loves to travel. He came over with Military Attack and Dan Excel, which was ideal, but he hasn't been bothered spending time on his own in the barn either," Fownes said. "He's been eating up, and looks nice and relaxed. He'll do the rest of his work on the polytrack. He seems happy and I can go back to Hong Kong happy with where he is at."
