Dan Excel seeks repeat in Singapore International Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Dan Excel, a 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding, returns to the location of his latest win in Sunday’s $3.95 million Singapore International Cup at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore.

Dan Excel, based in Hong Kong, is one of two former winners of the Group 1 race in a field of 11 set to go 1 1/4 miles on turf, along with 2013 winner Military Attack.

Trained by John Moore, Dan Excel was third in the Group 1 Champions Mile in Hong Kong on May 3, finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind Able Friend. Dan Excel is winless in four starts since taking the 2014 Singapore International Cup.

Military Attack, a 7-year-old gelding, is winless in four starts since taking the Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy in Hong Kong last October.

The Singapore International Cup field includes Smoking Sun, who was sixth in the Arlington Million at Arlington Park last August; Stepitup, the winner of a Group 2 race in Singapore on April 26; and Meiner Frost, a stakes winner in Japan in April.

Sunday’s program at Kranji is the track’s biggest day of the year. On the same program, Rich Tapestry, the winner of the Santa Anita Sprint Championship last October, is part of a field of nine in the $1.31 million KrisFlyer International Sprint at six furlongs on turf.

Trained by Michael Chang in Hong Kong, Rich Tapestry was third in the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint in Dubai on March 28 in his first start since a 14th in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita last November.

Aerovelocity, who won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in Japan on March 29, is the likely favorite. Trained by Paul O’Sullivan in Hong Kong, Aerovelocity won the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint last December.

The top race in Japan this weekend is Sunday’s $1,579,389 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares on turf at Tokyo Racecourse.

Nuovo Record, the winner of the 2014 Japanese Oaks, leads a field of 18 that includes Meisho Mambo and Straight Girl, who were second and third in the 2014 Victoria Mile, and Little Gerda, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred by Closing Argument who was a Grade 2 winner in Japan in 2014.