Big cat on the prowl

Late bloomer Big Tiger keeps earning his stripes after he brought up a third win on the trot yesterday.

The three-length trouncing in the $50,000 Class 4 race over 1,200m was without a doubt his most dominant display thus far.

After landing at Kranji as an unraced last year, the strapping Akeed Mofeed five-year-old has taken a while to find his way, but has clearly hit his straps in his second season.

With the purple patch having come across Class 4 level on the Polytrack, trainer Jerome Tan can only hope that a step-up to Class 3 would not halt his progress.

Big Tiger's (Wong Chin Chuen) winning move probably came in the first 200m. The $18 shot speared over from his wide gate to take a drop on leader Magnifique (Saifudin Ismail) without having spent too much petrol.

There was visibly a lot left in the tank as the field spun for home. Wong had not budged and Big Tiger was just purring.

When the Tiger was uncaged, the slaying was swift. Favourite Siam Royal Orchid (Manoel Nunes) could not muster a response, even losing the runner-up spot to Quadcopter (Marc Lerner) by three-quarters of a length.

The winning time was 1min 12.18sec for the 1,200m on Polytrack.

"He's done the job well from the outside draw (nine) today. The 21/2-kg penalty from his last win didn't do him any good, but he still won well," said Tan.

"I hope he will be competitive at Class 3 level. I may have to put him over longer and see how he goes."

Big Tiger's best trip was the least of the Singaporean handler's concerns not too long ago. He was wondering whether he did not have a small cat in his stable instead.

The gelding did not set the world alight in his early exposure to racing, especially over turf.

It was not until Tan switched him to the all-weather that the first hints of ability were detected.

With three seconds in four starts, the foot was on the till, but the penny had not quite dropped - until one last stroke of genius, the blinkers.

Big Tiger finally roared to his first win at his ninth start in an Open Maiden race last October.

The growing resume has bulged with three more wins, but Tan is not harbouring any lofty plans for the Cat Racing Stable-owned galloper at this stage.

"There are no big plans for him, just take him through his grades one race at a time," said Tan.

"When he first came, he was okay, just learning his trade.

"But he has really improved when we put him on Polytrack. The blinkers also sharpened him up.

"The owner Albert Ow is from Johor, and has been very patient with this horse. I'm very happy for him."

With a record now reading four wins and four seconds in 14 starts, Big Tiger has amassed over $125,000 in prize money.