Trainer Lee Freedman is fitting Mr Scorsese with shades again in a bid to unlock that electric turn of foot that had gone missing for a while now.
Freedman will race Mr Scorsese in Sunday’s $80,000 Kranji Stakes C race over 1400m, three weeks after the formerly Laurie Laxon-trained Pentire grey ran for him for the first time in a Kranji Stakes C race over 1600m on October 6 when he ran fourth to Iron Man.
The Oscar Racing Stable-owned galloper was once hailed as something out-of-the-box after he won his first two races as a three-year-old by leaving his rivals reeling in his wake.
He did not have much luck in the last two Legs of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, especially in the Group 1 Singapore Guineas when he was severely hampered in the backstraight, but the boom has dropped off subsequently.
Turning four, Mr Scorsese won twice again in Class 3 and 4 company, giving flashes of the old brilliance again, but was beaten soundly in the Group 1 Patron’s Bowl (1600m) and Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m) this year.
Freedman admitted he was expecting more from Mr Scorsese at his last start, given the long time between runs. He was left scratching his head for answers, and can only hope a set of blinkers – which he wore twice without success, in the two Legs of the 3YO Challenge – will be one on Sunday.
“I was a bit disappointed with his last run. I thought he had good gaps after coming back from the Derby,” he said.
“But it looks like the Derby might have taken the spark out of him. I discussed with Laurie and he agreed he fell short of the trip.
“But you turn four only once, and he had to have a crack. Unfortunately, he just didn’t stay.”
Two months into his new tenure in Singapore, the Australian Hall of Fame trainer, who has saddled two winners – Mr Clint and Chairman – up to now, said he was still trying to suss out his horses (mostly taken over from Laxon), including Mr Scorsese.
“I’m still getting uses to the horses here,” he said.
“Mr Scorsese is an uncomplicated type of horse, though. I just hope the shades will help him finish off his races better.
“I think mile races will be suitable for him, but there were not any around and we are running him over 1400m this week. Let’s hope he goes well.”
Mr Scorsese will be ridden by Alan Munro and has drawn barrier No 3 in an 11-horse field made up of his last-start nemesis Iron Man, Clarton Super, Bao Shan Magic and Guilty Pleasures among others.
– Singapore Turf Club
