Last-start winner Katak surprised even his trainer with the abundance of speed he both mustered and sustained at his barrier trial on Tuesday, going on to safely hold a pure sprinter like Makkem Lad into second place.
For a horse who has won up to 2400m in South Africa (Group 3 Pocket Power Stakes), to show such prowess in the speed department is unusual - even if this was just a trial - but trainer Ricardo Le Grange will gladly add that hidden talent as another string to his bow.
Since the Potala Palace entire joined the South African trainer less than a year ago, the learning curve has never stopped.
A five-from-five winner (three at Group 3 level, all coming in the Cape Winter Series Triple Crown) back home,Katak was no ready-made import that took Kranji by storm from the get-go. It's taken five starts, a lot of trial and error, and joy and tribulation before he finally visited the Kranji winner's circle in a Class 2 race over 1400m.
It remains to be seen whether the South African-bred five-year-old owned by Marsh and Guy Shirtliff and Bryn Ressell can keep up the same winning trend at his next assignment in the Class 1 race over the mile on February 26, but Le Grange liked what he saw on Tuesday.
With winning jockey Danny Beasley up, Katak speared over from a wide gate to eye-ball expected pacesetter Makkem Lad (Yusoff Fadzli) before cruising home a comfortable three-length winner, without being fully tested.
"I was really surprised with the amount of speed he showed and the controlled manner of the trial," said Le Grange.
"He was jogging in behind the leader and he was very impressive to the line. I'm very happy with that trial, and so was Danny.
"Till now, I still get to learn so much about him, and I think he continues to improve both physically and mentally.
"He used to be really highly-strung and was way above himself, but from the young boy he was he's become more of a man now. He's also a lot more muscled up and has developed into a beautiful animal.
"He's always been a big sweater and he showed it again this morning, but to me, he is now a healthy sweater. I'd rather he sweats than being dry-coated.
"He's a very competitive horse. Once he knows he's going for a trial or a race, and it's not just a canter, he's all prepped up.
"I'm very excited and looking forward to next week's run and we'll then take it from there. Obviously, the Kranji Mile will be his first big race, but we'll take it one race at a time."
The $1 million Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) on May 21 will be the first of eight feature races held this season.
The Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) is held over until next year on February 4, 2023, as well as the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) which will be held on March 25.
