Navy Seals and Otahuhu also stand out with their smart workouts at Sungai Besi

It is August now and there are four months left to go in the 2025 season, but ask anyone at Sharee Hamilton's yard, and they will say it is January .

The Swiss Ace galloper could be the one coming through for them and he will be the toast at Sungai Besi on Aug 9.

The New Zealand handler has got a good one in that six-year-old and she will be hoping that he is the one the rest will have to beat in the highlight race of the Aug 9 meeting: the Class 3 event run over 1,400m.

Owned by Team Cheval Stable, January was out on the training track on Aug 5 and, on a track rated good, he worked pretty well.

The former Singapore galloper did that 600m spin in a slow time of 42sec, but it might turn out to be all that was needed.

A six-time winner over 1,200m and 1,400m, January will trot into the action on the back of a disappointing showing at his last start on July 12, when he finished an uncharacteristic ninth to Platinum Emperor in the Mitavite Asia Cup (1,400m).

That day, January was keenly involved in the action, and held second spot until his condition fizzled out 400m from home.

He deserves another chance over the 1,400m, a trip he won on four times previously. He could produce a winning run much like he did two starts ago on June 22, when he soundly demolished a Class 3 field by 2¾ lengths in his only win in Malaysia.

January, who won five races for trainers Donna Logan and Daniel Meagher at Kranji, has what is needed to come good for Hamilton in August.

Navy Seals  also turned in a pretty neat gallop, running the 600m in 41sec. That, after a spot of cantering to loosen up those muscles.

Prepared by Frank Maynard for the Legacy Power Racing Stable, Navy Seals will have track and trip in his favour on Aug 9 when he tackles the 1,700m in the Class 4A contest.

The U S Navy Flag five-year-old has already put together two wins – over 1,700m and 2,000m respectively – for the 2006 Malaysian champion trainer since he began racing in Selangor early this year.

A three-time winner over staying trips at Kranji when trained by Tan Kah Soon, he brought that form over to his new base. It was on April 5 that he did at Sungai Besi what he did at Kranji: winning over the 2,000m.

But the shorter 1,700m at his next start is also right up his alley.

Last time in a Class 4B race (1,700m) on July 20, Navy Seals was right in the mix at the 400m mark, but he encountered traffic issues and his game plan went to nought when he was crowded and had to switch out for a clear run.

It cost him the race and he eventually finished a smack-up fifth to Pacific Star , albeit the margin between him and the winner was just a length.

Navy Seals can make amends. Watch for those blue silks as he charges home over the concluding stages on Aug 9.

Another good one to pursue at the betting windows could be Otahuhu, who covered the 600m in a breezy 41.2sec.

Since joining Malaysian handler Nick Selvan's yard after his last run at Kranji on Sept 28, 2024, the Overshare gelding has put together two more wins, in addition to his two victories over 1,200m for Logan in Singapore.

A six-year-old Australian-bred, Otahuhu's last win was on June 7.

That day, under a ride by Khairil Zulkiflee, he came from third at the top of the home stretch to collar and eventually beat the front runner, Jungle King, by a head. The race was a Class 4 affair run over the 1,150m.

Earlier, on April 27, Otahuhu led his rivals on a merry chase to land a win in a Class 5A event over the slightly longer 1,300m.

The Class 4B race on Aug 9 will be over the 1,200m.

It will be in his comfort zone, and Selvan could be looking to add one more to the 28 winners he has already saddled this season.