Supernatural Power the favourite over shorter Alexander Memorial

SUPERNATURAL POWER aims at a third open-allowance win in six months after exposing her grade-one credentials with fourth-place finishes in last year’s Gold Cup and Mouttet Mile.

KIcking off for her four-year-old season, with Raddesh Roman back in the saddle for Saturday’s Alexander Hamilton Memorial at seven furlongs, SUPERNATURAL POWER returns with a change of arsenal — visor and figure-8 removed — replaced with blinkers, in which she galloped 59.2 from the gate last Sunday morning.

A winner of six races from 10 starts, SUPERNATURAL POWER clocked last season’s fastest time at a mile, 1:36.2, beating TIZ TOK and MAJOR DANGER in October after a fast-finishing fourth behind LEGACY ISLE, RIDE ALL DAY and PACK PLAYS in the Gold Cup 16 days earlier.

However, a torrid Mouttet Mile pace, set by the Gold Cup cast of LEGACY ISLE, PACK PLAYS and RIDEALLDAY significantly lowered the backstretch fractions which SUPERNATURAL POWER had used to dominate open allowance.

Slowly into stride, SUPERNATURAL POWER recovered to race fourth down the backstretch. However, LEGACY ISLE churning splits of 45.0, 57.1 and 1:10.0 could only be pounced on by RIDEALLDAY, the horse he had escaped to win the Gold Cup by a diminishing half-length.

After holding her own for most of the stretch run, a winded SUPERNATURAL POWER lost third to the previous year’s winner, FUNCAANDUN, with whom she renews rivalry in the Hamilton Memorial.

Unable to cope with the scorching Mouttet Mile backstretch splits, FUNCAANDUN snatched third late at the wire, a half-length ahead of SUPERNATURAL POWER, who now has the reduced distance in her favour, not to mention the whip rule handcuffing Robert Halledeen.

WALL STREET TRADER, who toyed with overnight-allowance OIL MACHINE at six and a half furlongs on February 18, will try making a race of it but sits only three pounds off SUPERNATURAL POWER, who twice proved herself a grade-one runner last season.