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Trainer Clements' Countofmontecristo has his work cut out for his comeback
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Countofmontecristo winning the $400,000 Group 2 Chairman's Trophy over 1,600m on turf on Feb 15. Winning jockey Louis-Philippe Beuzelin will be aboard again in Race 12 at Kranji today.
ST FILE PHOTO
Brian Miller
It sure is good to be back - 16 weeks has been a long time.
At first, we relished the break as it gave us time to reflect and recharge.
Then, it became "too much" and "too long".
Without racing, we lost track of the weekends. It was all one blur.
If we felt it, the horses did, too.
Racing gets them pumped up with an adrenaline rush.
They're not the milkman's horse. They're thoroughbreds. They live to run.
Without the excitement of a raceday, life must be a drag for a racehorse.
Especially one with a name like Countofmontecristo. In that classic by Alexandre Dumas, the Count was also in lockdown.
It wasn't 16 weeks but a life sentence in a dank and dirty dungeon.
So it was, when he finally broke free, the feeling was one of sheer pleasure and the Count was determined to rediscover the glory days.
So, too, our Countofmontecristo.
He who resides in leading trainer Michael Clements' barn must be glad that he's out of lockdown.
He, too, must want to pick up from where he left off.
That, we could tell.
Set free from those invisible shackles, he relished his moment at the trials on July 1.
Guided by Frenchman Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, he took the bit and ran out the Polytrack 1,000m at a steady clip.
Clements would have been pleased - and he said so in an interview.
"Louis trialled him and I was really pleased with the run. He did it all in good time," said the Zimbabwe-born trainer.
"I would say the long break hasn't done him any harm as we have kept him ticking over.
"He's bright and happy, fit and well."
Back to that literary classic, when the Count found his freedom, he went on to acquire a fortune.
Will it be the same for Joe Giovanni Singh's champion racehorse?
He's already amassed almost $2million in prize money. Will his fortune grow?
Will Countofmontecristo produce his customary finishing burst in Race 12 at Kranji this afternoon?
Will he blitz the opposition like a hot knife through butter?
Clements doesn't have all the answers. No-one does. But he's optimistic.
He said: "The 1,200m trip is a touch on the short side for him these days, as he is getting old now. But he did well on the track and distance previously. So, he should be okay."
Indeed, it was in the $400,000 Merlion Trophy 11 months ago that Countofmontecristo ran down stablemate Bold Thruster to land the Group 2 feature in a photo finish.
Clements added: "He's running in the same sort of class, I expect a similar run in his comeback.
"If there is speed up front, he should be sharp enough to sit just behind the leaders."
However, and while there is iron in his soul and steel in his eyes, the job ahead isn't free of boulders.
Fame Star's shooting for seven-in-a-row. Skywalk will have the Champ Vlad Duric on the reins.
Star Of Jupiter has a feather on his back and it'll be foolish to take reigning Horse of the Year I'm Incredible out of the equation.
That said, we all know that today's race is a sort of warm-up.
Clements is shooting to get his star ready for the bigger prize coming up in the middle of next month.
It's the $1.5 million Kranji Mile and victory will cement Countofmontecristo's already awesome reputation. It's not going to be easy, though. Nothing is.
As Dumas wrote of that other Count, Edmond Dante: "Life is a storm. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next."
Will it be - at 5.30pm this afternoon - Countofmontecristo's moment in the sun?
