Super Salute is arguably trainer Jason Lim’s best shot at winning his first Group race in Singapore when he lines up in the $150,000 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) on Sunday.
The fourth-year trainer had tried his luck in past feature races with a few runners like Eye Guy, Crystal Warrior (now renamed as Southern Speed), The Executioner (now renamed as Fortune Changer) and most recently, Grand Supreme in the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on April 8, but they all ran unplaced.
But things seem different with Super Salute, the second highest-rated horse after Sky Eye in his yard.
With five wins in a row leading up to the EW Barker Trophy and winning his first race over the 1400m trip in a Class 2 race on April 1, Lim believes that the four-year-old son of I Am Invincible is ready to take on the best on Sunday.
“He (Super Salute) is in good condition, so I am hopeful and fingers crossed that he can win,” said the Singaporean handler.
“He was on the ‘D’ Short Course last time and it was not easy to get out, it’s one of the more difficult Course for the 1400m but he still won.
“All was good after his last win. He had a good gallop with (jockey) (Manoel) Nunes last week, and they will go for a quiet spin tomorrow before the race. All we need is a final tune-up.
“Barrier-wise, I hope we can be somewhere in the middle. I will leave it (the steering job) to Nunes, in fact I didn’t tell Nunes how to ride him at his last win because he already knew the horse and he rode him very well.
“This horse has a very strong mind of his own, but when it comes to work, he is very professional. One thing about him is that he’s very competitive. He just wants to beat his opponents.
“We’ll do our best for the next four days. We’ve done our part, so no pressure there, and the horse has already recouped investments for the owners (Alan N John Stable) too.”
Super Salute will have four-time Singapore champion jockey and his winningest partner Nunes sticking by him in the 13-horse field, which further points to his chances of winning.
The pair has won four from four outings together, though the Brazilian hoop could not make the 50kgs load at his previous win in February, ultimately giving way for jockey Krisna Thangamani.
While Super Salute’s hot-headedness in the barriers and his highly-strung temperament is a chink in his armour, Nunes thought that he has made great improvements and is a solid chance on Sunday, albeit he was still wary of a few other classy runners in the field.
“I rode him to four wins. He’s an up-and-coming horse and is in good form, so this looks the right race for him,” said Nunes of his mount in the EW Barker Trophy, a race which he has yet to win.
“He’s up in grade but he won the 1400m at his last start, and 1400m is probably the best trip for him now. He’s definitely a good chance.
“He had issues in the barrier and things have to go his way before his jump, but he’s improved a lot and is much more settled now.
“He’s very clever. In the mornings, he can ‘sleep’ in the barrier no problem but when he knows he’s going to run on race days, he gets a bit excited. Still, everything is fine so far.
“I just cantered him this morning and he looked really well. We’ll do a quiet gallop tomorrow.
“We hope for a good barrier but he’s very versatile, so depending on the barrier and the pace, he can be ridden from the front or the back, it doesn’t matter too much.
“But we have to respect class in the race. Golden Monkey’s a nice horse. Rocket Star is also a class horse and Mr Black Back has only 50kgs on his back.
“Also don’t forget (trainer) Jerome Tan’s horse, Sacred Criox. He finished third behind Lim’s Kosciuszko in the (Group 1) Raffles Cup (1600m) last month, and though 1400m might be a bit sharp for him, the race is on the Long Course this time, so it can help him.”
