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Despite a quiet start to the new racing year, trainer David Kok is not about to push the panic button just yet.
As the opening month draws to a close, the Singaporean handler has yet to saddle a winner after seven race meetings, and is just one of three trainers (the others being David Hill and Steven Lam) yet to open their account in Kranji.
“I’m a bit surprised that it’s still zero,” said Kok, who had secured a victory within the first two weeks of January in each of his last four full seasons since getting his licence in late 2009.
“But at the same time I’m not too worried about the slow start as quite a few of my horses are still having a spell and they’re not ready to race at the moment.”
In fact, he has only prepared 14 runners (of which half have finished with minor placings or better) thus far, the second lowest tally among the 26 trainers after the frugal six sent out by Lam.
There has also been an influx of new arrivals to Kok’s stables since the turn of the year and these recent additions require some bedding in.
“I’ve taken in quite a few young horses and it takes time to get them ready to race,” said Kok, who notched 37 winners last season, matching his best-ever haul back in 2010.
While two of them, State General and Three Whip, are set to make their debut this week, he is banking on one of his more established gallopers The Rude Warrior to end this drought.
The five-year-old Australian-bred gelding, a winner two starts back and a commendable third to Dujardin in the New Year Cup earlier this month, has been penciled in for the $95,000 Open Benchmark 83 race over 1800m this Sunday.
“He ran well in the New Year Cup and I’m very happy with the way he performed then and he’s been training very nicely,” said Kok. “He’s fully fit and ready to win.”
While the Sonny Yeoh-trained Tiger Master, chasing his seventh win from 16 starts, will probably begin as favourite amongst the six runners, Kok betrayed no signs of concern.
“The small field should help us and I think our chances of winning are quite high,” he said. “Certainly this horse is my best chance this week of getting that first win of the year.”
The son of Kempinsky will again be piloted by jockey Vagner Leal, who has been aboard for the past three rides, and despite the Brazilian’s own struggles this season where he has scored a solitary victory from 37 rides, Kok has refrained from making changes.
“He’s worked with this horse for quite a while now and knows him pretty well and I still feel he’ll be able to get the best out of him,” he said. “The horse is ready so it’s up to him to ride him well.”
While Kok is by no means prolific when it comes to saddling runners – he prepared just 317, the lowest number among the top-15 in the premiership last year – he noted that he had been particularly spartan this month.
“The focus has been a lot more on preparation this month and getting the horses ready,” he said. “I expect most of them, including Cash Luck (who earned Kok his maiden Group 1 title with a victory in the Kranji Mile last year) to start racing next month.
“Honestly this year really begins in February for me.”