CRUTCHLEY'S CLASS 4 PAIR GET TWO BIG THUMBS UP

His only entries, Mesmerizing and Super Bowl, work well for Feb I7 event

It was by the narrowest of margins that Mesmerizing missed out on posting his fifth victory at Kranji.

And, in that same race on Feb 3 which was taken out by Daniel Meagher's Lim's Bestbreaker - Super Bowl went off as the $15 second pick but managed to finish only in sixth spot.

Trainer Stephen Crutchley, who prepared both horses, would have been gutted.

Especially to see Mesmerizing come so close and yet get beaten. Well, like it is said, we all live to fight another day. Horses, too.

So, let us give the pair, who are Crutchley's only entries for the meeting, another chance.

That could come as early as Feb 17, when both runners trot to the start in that Class 4 race over the tricky 1,700m on the Polytrack.

In preparation for that assignment, Crutchley sent both his runners out for a training spin on Feb 13 and they came away looking like a pair of aces in a poker hand.

Super Bowl was first to go against the clock. With Mohd Zaki doing the steering, he disposed of the 600m in 38.7sec, finishing with plenty in hand. Later, it was Mesmerizing's turn.

Again with Zaki in the saddle, he went a tad faster than his stablemate, clocking 38.1 for the same trip.

He stretched out very keenly and finished deep into the back straight.