Come on, give that guy a break. Twice before - in his last two starts - Filial Dragon had to settle for second best.
Both times, he carried stable confidence and was not beaten by much.
Richard Lim, his trainer, and the Hor Siew Stable, his owner, would have felt gutted.
Well, as they say, "that's racing". You win some, you lose some.
However, you live to fight another day and, in the case of Filial Dragon, that "other day" could come rushing at him.
He is down to contest the Class 4 Division 1 race over 1,200m on Jan 20 and, in his final preparation for that seventh start, Lim put Filial Dragon through his paces on the training track on Jan 16.
Ridden by Koh Teck Huat, Filial Dragon was in full flow, running the 600m in a swift 35.7sec.
Lim, who would surely have been watching at trackside, would have said "now, that's more like it".
He would have been spot-on. After all, the workout on Jan 16 was full of merit.
He did the job fluently and, if he brings that form to the racetrack on Jan 20, he could hand his rivals a beating and bring his winning tally to two.
Actually, it was not too long ago that Filial Dragon opened his Kranji account.
This story is from the January 17, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the January 17, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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