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The Laurie Laxon trained Straighttothepoint may have been beaten as the odds-on favourite at Singapore on Friday night however his performance still had plenty of merit.
Making his return over 1000m the lightly raced son of Pins wasn't suited by the slow tempo set out in front with the leader and eventual winner Honest Truth taking full advantage.
Jumping away well, Straighttothepoint settled down nicely in second and while he looked to get all the favours he simply couldn't peg back the leader after it reeled off a very slick closing sectional.
Recorded to be just over half a second outside standard for the last 600m made it extremely hard for Straighttothepoint to reel in Honest Truth as he was already spotting him a length before straightening.
Adding to that the closing sectional for the seventh event was recorded to be over half a second quicker than any other race on the night.
From a Timeform ratings perspective Straighttothepoint returned a figure superior to his previous best thus emphasising he returned in good order and under the circumstances was a very good performance.
Returning a figure of 83 signifies a two pound improvement and given it was over an unsuitable trip it suggests he is likely to improve sharply second up.
In his five starts previous to Friday he had only been seen over 1200m and thus is likely to step up in trip at his next start and judging by his ratings profile he is expected to springboard off his latest performance and record a new career peak.
Laurie Laxon wasn't one to hide his fair opinion of Straighttothepoint in the lead up to his return and he is definitely a galloper worth sticking with in the future.
The lightly raced Blue Swede returned in great order for the Shane Baertschiger stable on Friday night and given he claimed Blue Swede was potentially the best horse in his stable, you do have to sit up and take notice.
Coming from an almost impossible position on the turn the son of O'Reilly showcased a dazzling turn of foot over the final 300m to pick up the leaders and score comfortably by two lengths.
Having been held up a couple of times upon straightening his effort to come from the rear of the field was further highlighted given the slow tempo set out in front.
He was successful in recording a new career peak and is expected to only keep improving throughout this campaign, when he not only steps out over further but also when he returns to the turf track.
More notably Baertschiger made it quickly clear after the race that he doesn't expect to see the best of Blue Swede until he is seen over a mile and was confident he could make his presence felt in the Guineas with a likely clash with War Affair.
While on raw form he does have a fair bit to find to reach the heights of star galloper War Affair, he is unseen over further than 1400m and given he has continued to raise the bar with each career start he must be kept safe in upcoming events as he does appear on upwards rating spiral.
The Patrick Shaw trained Slew Of Lode proceeded to steal the show at Singapore on Sunday when notching up a hat-trick of wins in the seventh event.
Having displayed a stack of ability in his three previous starts the son of Lode was successful in raising the bar again when streaking his rivals by two-and-a-half lengths.
Successful in recording a new Timeform Master figure of 95, Slew Of Lode further pushed his claims for the upcoming 4YO Challenge as Shaw is confident he can make the rise up to the mile and possibly out to 2000m for the Derby.
Having previously won two races over the mile in Argentina, Slew Of Lode has still proven very impressive over the shorter trips since making his debut in Singapore in November last year.
In what proved his third victory over 1200m, Slew Of Lode displayed great tactical speed to settle up outside the leader before showcasing his sharp turn of foot when drawing away to score easily in the straight.
Recorded to be one of the quickest times of the night, regular rider John Powell was confident he would improve further up in trip and suggested he would like to ride him more patiently and felt he would settle better in races over longer trips.
Likely to be next seen in the Group 2 Stewards Cup (1400m) in early June, Slew Of Lode is expected to be make that sharp step up in grade and prove very competitive.
He is one of the more promising gallopers in Singapore at present and has to be followed closely in upcoming events.