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Even if trainer Steven Burridge has never had the Committee’s Prize circled in red from a long way out on his racing calendar, he may well end up saddling four starters in the Group 3 event this Sunday.
Photo by Singapore Turf Club
Iluminado, Hint, Shuttle Man and Freezemaster is the four-pronged attack the Australian mentor is hoping to line up in the $200,000 race over 1600m on turf, but truth be told, they found themselves in the running more by default than by design.
Iluminado, without a doubt the pick of the four, was ultra-impressive when he made light work of his four rivals in an Open Benchmark 83 race over 1700m on Polytrack two weeks ago on August 30. But even after the Argentinian-bred six-year-old by Body Glove bolted in by just under four lengths, Burridge did not pencil in the Committee’s Prize as his next target in the post-race interviews.
Both Shuttle Man and Freezemaster are currently a shadow of themselves, with Burridge left with no other choice but to keep them running until the tide hopefully turns, while Hint is racing first-up for him following a brief unsuccessful stint in Malaysia under the care of trainer Richard Lines.
After scanning through the programme, Burridge could not really home in on anything suitable until he settled for the Committee’s Prize, a race which he has yet to win, as a one-size-fits-all option.
“There was no other race for Iluminado basically. I remember how hard it was for him to get into a race two starts back as he kept getting scratched,” said the 2010 Singapore champion trainer who currently sits in fifth spot, just a few notches behind the leading quartet of Laurie Laxon, Patrick Shaw, Mark Walker and Michael Freedman.
“So I thought why not give him a go in this race (Committee’s Prize), though I would have preferred a Polytrack race as he’s more of a Polytrack specialist (won five from seven on the alternative surface).
“But he’s won on grass before and I thought the drop in weight (to 50 kgs) would suit him as well.
“Hopefully he gets a soft ground on Sunday. He likes the sting out of the ground.
“I would have liked to put Matty Kellady (his regular track rider) on this time, but he’s weighted at 50kgs and Matty can’t make that. Harry (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) won on him last time out and will ride him again.”
Burridge was disinclined to make any longer-term plans for the Ian Brown-owned galloper, even if he is an up-and-comer who picked up five points after his last-start slashing win to stand on 88 points.
“We’ll see what he does on Sunday, he may get 10 furlongs, but I don’t think he can stay the 2200m of the Singapore Gold Cup,” said Burridge who landed the time-honoured Group 1 race in 2010 with Risky Business.
While Burridge has some sort of silent hope for loftier plans for Iluminado, the remaining trio has not done much in recent starts to get him too enthused.
“Shuttle Man has been disappointing. He’s not the horse he was since his wind operation, but I’m taking the blinkers off, which I’m hoping will spark him up again,” he said of the Japanese-bred who was once regarded as one of the future bright lights at Kranji.
“He had the blinkers on at his last two runs, but it did not seem to make any difference. He didn’t have a clear run last Friday, but it was no excuse and Cash Luck beat him by some distance.
“He’s backing up and will have a good jockey in Alan Munro on his back. Let’s see how he goes.
“Just like Shuttle Man, Freezemaster (to be ridden by apprentice Koh Teck Huat) is also backing up and is struggling to regain his form of old. There was no other race for him either, and I thought why not enter him again this week.
“As for Hint (to be ridden by Manoel Nunes), he was meant to run in the Perak Derby (2400m) for Richard Lines last April, but he got kicked and did not have enough time to get ready for that race. The owners (Arexevan Racing Stable) have decided to send him back to me and he seems to be in good form.
“He’s had three trials since he’s been back here, ran fourth about two weeks ago and then ran third to Chase Me last Thursday.”
The 2012 Emirates Singapore Derby winner along with the Michael Freedman-trained duo of Super Ninetyseven and Tropaios are the three horses Burridge has the utmost respect for.
“Take these three horses away and it’s a pretty open race,” said Burridge.
“Chase Me won that trial Hint ran third in, but he’s got the topweight (59kg) and is giving weight all round, but it’s still a big ask to beat these three, especially Michael’s horses.”
*Starter Prize in the headline refers to a consolation prize in a popular Singapore lottery game called 4D.