Jockey Lisa Allpress has no doubt that Coup Align would hold his own in international competition in Singapore.
Allpress rode Coup Align to win the Eclipse Stakes at Wingatui on Saturday.
She has also ridden the 4yr-old to win the Pegasus and Stewards' Handicap at Riccarton and an open sprint at Waikouaiti this season.
The win on Saturday strengthened the case for Coup Align to be invited to the $S1 million KrisFlyer Sprint in Singapore on May 16.
Trainer Michael Pitman is keen to make the trip.
Coup Align led on Saturday and ran the 1200m in 1.10.4 compared with the track record of 1.08.99 credited to A Gordon For Me in December 1998.
"I will give him 10 days off and get him vaccinated for Singapore. If he does not get an invitation, I won't be too concerned. He will be a super horse at 5," Pitman said.
Allpress, as Lisa Mumby, rode Classic Marco to win the group one Lion City Cup (1200m) at Kranji during a three-month contract in Singapore in 2002.
"I think he [Coup Align] would be competitive there. He would be competitive anywhere," she said.
Coup Align has won 10 of his 15 starts and the $28,125 stake lifted his earnings to $210,625.
The win was an anniversary of sorts for Pitman and Ray Coupland, who shares the ownership of Coup Align with his partner Jill Walls.
The first horse raced by Coupland and trained by Pitman, Pokare, dead-heated for first with Courier Flight in the 1985 James Hazlett Stakes, the registered name for the Eclipse Stakes.
The same combination won the race with Coup Ray in 2005 when it was held at Cromwell.
Coupland also won the race with Coup Entrepreneur from the Peter and Dawn Williams stable in 2006.