Premiership title-chaser Alwin Tan will this week be banking on unbeaten sprinter Nova Swiss as one of his best chances to help keep him on top till the end.
Leading on 80 winners, the Singaporean trainer is currently 10 wins clear of Patrick Shaw and nine meetings away from the finishing tape, with that dream first trophy now clearly within his grasp after coming so close at the last two seasons (twice second).
Safe but by no means home, would, however, be the conservative prognosis of Tan's chance of becoming the first Singaporean trainer to be crowned since Charles Leck in 2003.
Going purely on strength in numbers this weekend, Tan seems to, however, have a distinct edge on his South African rival. Tan has entered a bumper team of 22 runners this weekend, split between 13 on Friday and nine on Sunday while Shaw takes only four runners, two apiece on either day.
Shaw might be saving his firepower for another day, but Tan can afford a scattergun approach given the bigger pool of horses he can tap into, especially in the bread-and-butter lower divisions.
At this stage, every win counts, and Tan is counting heavily on his big team to add a few more sticks to his tally, especially Nova Swiss.
The Swiss Ace three-year-old was simply a class above when he licked his rivals at his two outings, on debut in a Class 4 race (1000m) followed by a Benchmark 67 race (1000m) three weeks later.
This time he is engaged in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1000m on Friday, and while it looks his for the taking on paper, Tan admitted to feeling even more pressure.
"You're always nervous when a horse is unbeaten. You know he will get beat one day, but you just hope it won't be this time," said Tan.
"He galloped well this morning and Manoel Nunes was very happy with his work. He told me he still had a gap to improve on even though he's already had two runs.
"He must be able to dictate his own pace, though. Hopefully, there is no other horse to set the pace for him.
"The other thing I'm worried about is that he is running against horses he has never met before, and three come to mind: Mr Luck, Super Line and Astrostar.
"After this race, if he wins, there won't be many races to select for him in November. I can only think of that Kranji Stakes C race over 1000m on the last day of the season (December 4), but he will carry the topweight.
"We'll see, but next year, he will definitely be going for the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge."
On Friday again, Tan also saddles the duo of Cavallo and Dragon Fury in the highlight of the night, the $125,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m. While the confidence level is not as high as with Nova Swiss, he expects them to perform creditably.
"Cavallo has maintained his form. He got checked a few times and he did not get any room at his last run in the (Group 3) Saas Fee Stakes (1400m)," he said.
"S (Sundradas) John knows this horse well. I leave it to his judgement and I'm sure they will be there again, even if we're dropping him back to 1200m.
"Dragon Fury ran a nice fifth at his first run after a spell. He's getting much better now, his form looks sound plus he's carrying a nice weight (55.5kgs).
"Danny Beasley will ride him again and was happy with his morning gallop today. I expect him to run well on Friday." -STC
Leading on 80 winners, the Singaporean trainer is currently 10 wins clear of Patrick Shaw and nine meetings away from the finishing tape, with that dream first trophy now clearly within his grasp after coming so close at the last two seasons (twice second).
Safe but by no means home, would, however, be the conservative prognosis of Tan's chance of becoming the first Singaporean trainer to be crowned since Charles Leck in 2003.
Going purely on strength in numbers this weekend, Tan seems to, however, have a distinct edge on his South African rival. Tan has entered a bumper team of 22 runners this weekend, split between 13 on Friday and nine on Sunday while Shaw takes only four runners, two apiece on either day.
Shaw might be saving his firepower for another day, but Tan can afford a scattergun approach given the bigger pool of horses he can tap into, especially in the bread-and-butter lower divisions.
At this stage, every win counts, and Tan is counting heavily on his big team to add a few more sticks to his tally, especially Nova Swiss.
The Swiss Ace three-year-old was simply a class above when he licked his rivals at his two outings, on debut in a Class 4 race (1000m) followed by a Benchmark 67 race (1000m) three weeks later.
This time he is engaged in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1000m on Friday, and while it looks his for the taking on paper, Tan admitted to feeling even more pressure.
"You're always nervous when a horse is unbeaten. You know he will get beat one day, but you just hope it won't be this time," said Tan.
"He galloped well this morning and Manoel Nunes was very happy with his work. He told me he still had a gap to improve on even though he's already had two runs.
"He must be able to dictate his own pace, though. Hopefully, there is no other horse to set the pace for him.
"The other thing I'm worried about is that he is running against horses he has never met before, and three come to mind: Mr Luck, Super Line and Astrostar.
"After this race, if he wins, there won't be many races to select for him in November. I can only think of that Kranji Stakes C race over 1000m on the last day of the season (December 4), but he will carry the topweight.
"We'll see, but next year, he will definitely be going for the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge."
On Friday again, Tan also saddles the duo of Cavallo and Dragon Fury in the highlight of the night, the $125,000 Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m. While the confidence level is not as high as with Nova Swiss, he expects them to perform creditably.
"Cavallo has maintained his form. He got checked a few times and he did not get any room at his last run in the (Group 3) Saas Fee Stakes (1400m)," he said.
"S (Sundradas) John knows this horse well. I leave it to his judgement and I'm sure they will be there again, even if we're dropping him back to 1200m.
"Dragon Fury ran a nice fifth at his first run after a spell. He's getting much better now, his form looks sound plus he's carrying a nice weight (55.5kgs).
"Danny Beasley will ride him again and was happy with his morning gallop today. I expect him to run well on Friday." -STC