TAN HOPES IT'S NOT A FLASH IN THE PAN AGAIN

After two Polytrack wins, Super Pan Swiftly aims for three-in-a-row against stronger lot

The halcyon days of top-drawer horses like War Affair, Infantry, El Padrino or Speedy Cat filling up trainer Alwin Tan's boxes are long gone.

Since 2020, the 2016 Singapore champion trainer has seen both quality and quantity plummet at his stables.

Today, the 55-year-old conditioner is left with only 17 horses but, with Singapore racing counting down to its last day on Oct 5, he is not the only one with low occupancy rates.

Despite those last dreary seasons, a few rare gems have somehow managed to jump out of the box.

They are not cut from the same cloth as the aforementioned champions but Revolution, Cash Cove and, more recently, Aniki did help raise Tan's strike rate.

They may have shown their limitations once tested at a higher level, but they did bring a smile to Tan and his entourage for a while and, more importantly, keep the home fires burning.

The latest to have suddenly hit a purple patch is Super Pan Swiftly.

The gangly chestnut had more or less flown under the radar at his early Kranji efforts but once Tan put him on a Polytrack path, results started to come through.