3 minute read

There were a few key performances in Singapore over the weekend beginning with both Newlands and Lim's Rally on Friday night.

Both successful in clinching back-to-back wins, Newlands and Lim's Rally also returned new career peaks and appear gallopers worth following in the upcoming weeks.

Trained by Stephen Gray, Newlands successfully made the sharp rise to Class 3 company when saluting narrowly in the seventh event.

Newlands

Ridden by Vlad Duric, Newlands took a good step forward from his first up win, displaying a good turn of foot over the mile.

Only lightly raced the son of Mugharreb brought up his fourth win from nine starts and notably has only missed the money twice in his career.

Tracking the speed beautifully from the inside draw, Newlands enjoyed all the favours and when produced in the straight he let down strongly, hitting the front over the concluding stages.

While only a narrow margin, Duric was kind to Newlands over the latter stages and in the end it was quite a soft win.

His second win over a mile, Newlands gives the impression he will be even better over further with Gray indicating that the Group 1 Singapore Derby was there long term target.

Whether he reaches those lofty heights will remain to be seen however he is a galloper clearly heading in the right direction and is yet to reach his full potential.

From a ratings perspective, Newlands is a hard horse to get a good grasp on given he has only won his last two starts by narrow margins.

Is there much more under the hood? We will have to wait and see, however given how soft Newlands was on the line the future appears quite bright for this four-year-old.

Likely to be tried over further at his next outing Newlands is definitely one to stick with.

Lim's Rally

The Steven Burridge trained Lim's Rally also impressed when dominant in the eighth event, just half an hour after Newlands.

An impressive winner in the lead up, Lim's Rally also proceeded to take a good step forward when giving jockey Corey Brown an armchair ride to the line.

Bouncing away well from the outside stall Lim's Rally pressed on to settle fourth with race favourite Flak Jacket taking up the running.

Under a good hold entering the straight Lim's Rally ambled up to the lead inside the 300m before let loose inside the 200m.

Hitting the front shortly after Lim's Rally went to the line to score by just under a length, improving five pounds on his last start win.

Having won over both 1200m and 1400m it is hard to determine his pet distance, though his record of six starts for three wins and three second placings at 1400m gives a strong push for the former.

Lim's Rally has now collected six wins from 19 starts and while a little bit more exposed than Newlands he is still one to stick with as there appears to be more to come.

Rich Fortune

On Sunday three-year-old Rich Fortune forced his way back into the winner's stall when saluting narrowly in the seventh event.

Trained by Alvin Tan the son of Keeper has now earned himself a shot at the second leg of the 3YO series - the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic [1400m] on April 24.

A winner of three of his six starts, Rich Fortune returned a new career peak when too good on speed in the Graduation event.

Ridden by Manoel Nunes, Rich Fortune had to dig deep to hold off the late charges of both Roselli and War Citi.

While only a narrow margin there was a further four lengths back to fourth and it appears a solid piece of form moving forward.

Whether he can now take that next step to Group company remains to be seen, however from a Timeform ratings perspective he isn't rated far off the leading 3YOs.

If able to replicate the level of Sunday's performance in a fortnights time he is expected to be right around the mark.