Dancing Tycoon, one step at a time

Around this time last year, Stephen Gray had already harboured Singapore Derby designs for Hard Too Think.

But the experienced Kiwi trainer would not be caught making a similar call on his promising four-year-old Dancing Tycoon despite a gutsy win on Saturday.

Donning blinkers for the first time in the $75,000 Novice race over 1,200m on turf, Dancing Tycoon, with Wong Chin Chuen up, ran out of his skin to post his second career victory in only three starts.

Granted, a Novice win against fairly moderate rivals could not spark such grandiose plans.

But, as the old racing adage of "you're four only once" goes, the question had to be posed to Gray, who notched his second Derby - the first was Lim's Prestige in 2007 - last year with Hard Too Think.

Unsurprisingly, there was no black and white answer from Gray, who preferred to skirt the issue until the son of Written Tycoon earns a few more stripes - and tones down on his fiery temperament a little more.

"He's still hot in the head, but he was impressive today. He beat a handy field and I liked the way he did it," said Gray on Saturday.

"CC rides this horse every morning - and good luck to him. He said this horse has got a big stride.

"We discussed and decided to put the blinkers on today to sharpen him up over 1,200m, but we didn't have to.

"We can't be too complacent about these things, so we tried them out.

"It was also a brilliant ride from CC. He sat behind the horse we had to beat (Dancing Light) and made sure he didn't get away.

"He put that horse under pressure, and fought off the other horse (Te Akau Ben) when he hit the front. It's the sign of a pretty handy horse, he's a quality animal."

Gray is in no hurry to find the next assignment for Dancing Tycoon, as he felt he still had some touching up to do.

"I'll back him off. He's dropped a bit of weight at his second prep," he said.

"He'll be better over further, he'll get a mile easy. The Derby sounds nice, but we'll look after him and just set him for the four-year-old races.

"There aren't many four-year-olds and he's shown ability. So, we'll have a go, but the Derby's still a long way away."

Gray has always been a vocal champion of champagne racing where both horses and owners come together and take centrestage, but has in the last two years been staring at an empty grandstand bereft of vibrancy.

Singapore horse racing has gone on without public attendance since the Covid-19 circuit breaker was imposed in April 2020.

Last year's Singapore Derby triumph, for one, had such a bittersweet taste, but Gray remained hopeful the gates will soon be reopened to the crowds, including Dancing Tycoon's connections.

"It's a shame the owners can't be here. This group that syndicates Dancing Tycoon is made up of local and overseas owners, including some Americans who used to have horses with me some time back," said Gray.

He has long set up racing syndications under his famous New Zealand-based Copperbelt colours.

"They just bought another horse at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney. They paid A$130,000 (S$130,500) for Lot 628, a nice colt by that new stallion Trapeze Artist.

He will start up in Australia, and they may leave him there if things don't pick up again here."