3 minute read

David Hill was never one to hide his opinion that Cordoba could be a Singapore Derby Contender and he proceeded to live up to those lofty expectations when saluting at Singapore on Friday night.

Having began his career in fine order having saluted at his first two starts, Hill was fairly reserved leading into Friday's affair with the son of Exceed and Excel expected to be short of his best given he would be targeted towards bigger objectives down the track.

However his class clearly prevailed when going on to salute impressively by three-quarters of a length from the Michael Clements trained Captivate.

Settling nicely off the speed in midfield, Cordoba enjoyed a beautiful trail into the race and upon straightening was quickly into the clear before letting down beautifully inside the 200m to pull away for a solid victory.

Proceeding to keep his unbeaten record in-tact, Cordoba was successful in recording a new career peak and does appear in line to springboard off that mark at his next start given he did appear to be a bit soft over the concluding stages, the fact Hill also stated he was only at 80 per cent further emphasises this.

Untapped beyond seven furlongs he has given all the right indications that he would prove tractable over the staying trips with Alan Munro confident he is looking for more ground now and was very impressed by the way he just switched off in the run.

The time out of his latest victory also proved to be the quickest overall with the closing sectional of the race deemed to be just outside standard.

The current crop of four-year-olds in Singapore is proving quite strong in the lead up to Derby and it will remain to be seen whether Cordoba can trouble the likes of Super Ninetyseven and Johnny Guitar in the future, however he is clearly heading in the right direction and must be followed as he is expected to continue his rise through the grades in the coming months.

Despite failing to impress at the trials Shane Baertschiger does appear to have unearthed a promising type with Best Tothelign saluting impressively at Singapore on Sunday.

Bred in New Zealand the son of Align had failed to make any impression at his two trials in Singapore having finished fifth and fourth respectively however his performance to win on Sunday proved quite the opposite with the three-year-old recording the quickest overall time of the day.

Deemed to be marginally quicker than impressive three-year-old Rite Of Spring who saluted later in the day gives a strong push for the strength of the form and he does appear a bit above average on that fact alone.

While the strength of the form behind him isn't overly strong he is one galloper to keep under strong notice as he is likely to improve further with that race experience under his belt and is expected to make his presence felt at his next outing.

The Michael Freedman trained Rite Of Spring was heavily supported on Sunday and he dually saluted with the son of Stravinsky going on to defeat his arch rival Daniel by just under a length.

Aided by a beautiful ride from Manoel Nunes, Rite Of Spring travelled beautifully in transit when settling just off the leaders back.

Pulled out rounding the turn for home he showcased a sharp turn of foot to quickly hit the front and pinch a two length break on his rivals.

Despite Daniel looming up strongly inside the 100m, Rite Of Spring proceeded to pull out plenty over the concluding stages in what proved a very impressive return.

In what proved quite a sit and sprint affair, the closing sectional recorded by Rite Of Spring was very impressive as we deemed to be over a second inside standard and proceeded to break the 33 second barrier.

The form around the likes of Daniel and Italian Job appears very strong moving forward when tied together with War Affair and the fact Rite of Spring has improved further off a break suggests he is a definite contender in the 3YO series.

While it remains to be seen whether he can replicate this high level of performance over further he does appear one of the horses to beat in the first leg of the 3YO series, the Singapore Sprint over 1200m.

Despite finishing second the Laurie Laxon trained Daniel is also a horse to take out the race given he will definitely improve up to the mile down the track.

The second and third leg of the 3YO series appear to be right up his alley and given we did see him challenge War Affair over a mile last time in there is no questioning his ability and he does appear capable of turning the tables in the coming weeks.