BENDIGO BECKONS FOR TRAINER FITZSIMMONS

Aussie handler set for homecoming as Dream Alliance, Ravalli keep Kranji flag flying high

- Michael Lee

While it is business as usual at Kranji despite the racing days being numbered, trainer Tim Fitzsimmons has not wasted time in finding his next workplace back home.

The Australian horseman has already purchased stables in Bendigo, in his home state of Victoria. He will move to the small city 150km north-west of Melbourne with his family of five one month after Singapore racing shuts down on Oct 5.

Ranked among the big guns in Singapore, Fitzsimmons, along along with the likes of reigning champion trainer Jason Ong, Daniel Meagher and David Kok, still helms a sizeable team at Kranji.

From the 35 horses left on his books, most will be sold or move to Malaysia, but at least nine will join him in Australia - along with possibly another three or four.

Unsurprisingly, tickets have been booked for the stable's top seed Golden Monkey and the next three in the ratings - Dream Alliance, Raising Sixty-One and King Of Sixty-One. The others on the shortlist are also sensible picks, young upand-comers with scope for progress, like last weekend's winner Ravalli, Mt Niseko, Lightning Strike, Black Storm and Golden Brown.

"It's a nice set-up with lovely facilities and 26 boxes, right across the Bendigo track," said the 2022 Singapore champion trainer. “I liked the place and bought it in a private sale.

"Things will be slow at first.