Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Plenty of quality thoroughbreds strutted their stuff on Monday morning, with plenty of exciting 2-year-olds continuing to build momentum as we crossed the two month marker into the G1 Golden Slipper.
Prost continues to impress
Coming off his nice trial on January 9, Prost (Snitzel) continued to impress in his preparation for the business end of the 2-year-old season, quickening smartly to go past his stablemate, the well-regarded Shangri La Express (Alabama Express) in the third heat of the morning in a time of 48.45s.
In a deep field of exposed juvenile form, Prost was given some encouragement by Adam Hyeronimus to go past Shangri La Express, who had led the field for the majority of the 850-metre circuit.
Running third was the impressive Warwick Farm maiden winner Photographics (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}), who looked to hit the line nicely under a soft ride from experienced jockey Kerrin McEvoy.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, who had both Prost and Shangri La Express in the heat, also had fourth-placed Trunk (Snitzel), who was last seen running second to Stay Focused (Cosmic Force) in the Geelong Diamond, and sixth-placed Espionage (Zoustar).
Gallery: Heat 3 Randwick trials, images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The G3 Gimcrack S. winner Manaal (Tassort) was fifth in the trial, 1.05l off the winner.
Linebacker tunes up for his Superbowl
One of the more professional heats of the morning came from the unraced Linebacker (NZ) (Super Seth {NZ}), who sat outside the leader for the duration of his 850-metre heat before pulling away from his rivals under a hold in a time of 49.32s in the fourth trial of the morning.
Kerrin McEvoy had the John O’Shea-trained colt out of the barriers quickly, but early gate speed from Kingdom Undersiege (I Am Invincible) forced the pair to stay off the rail. The latter, who was also given a relatively soft time of things, kept on well to hold second, ahead of Getafix (Calyx {GB}) in third.
Linebacker’s previous trial, on January 9 at Canterbury Park, also showed his ability to leave the gates quickly, an asset that will hold him in good stead moving into the lucrative races to be run over the coming months, and indeed beyond.
Fearless, Bodyguard show Harron’s hand
The James Harron Colt Syndicate is never far away from the pointy end of juvenile racing in this country, and two of his most promising for this season, Fearless (Pierata) and Bodyguard (I Am Invincible) continued to step up their preparations with a nice showing in Heat 5.
Both had trialled together at Canterbury on January 9, with Fearless again getting the better of his stablemate, winning the 1050-metre heat in a time of 1:01.81.
Fearless settled fifth of six in the run, following Bodyguard wherever he went, and when asked to extend by Chad Scholfield, responded to riding to go past both him and Wave Breaker (Pierata) to win the heat by 0.33l.
Those three had a margin of almost 6l on Format (Frankel {GB}), who looks as though he will make a nice horse in time for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, while Invincible Madison (I Am Invincible), who like the first three across the line is trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, was fair to the line in fifth.
Counteroffensive goes on the front foot
One of the biggest wins by way of margin on Monday was Counteroffensive (Deep Field), who went through his gears nicely to win Heat 6, contested over 1050 metres, by 2.97l in a time of 1:01.90.
Taken straight to the head of the field by Tommy Berry, the handsome colt moved imposingly into the corner, and built his margin under a fairly strong hold. While the overall time was slower compared to the previous heat (1:01.90 compared to 1:01.81), the final 600-metre split was notably faster (33.76s compared to 34.00s), indicating that despite not being asked to do a lot, Counteroffensive has hit the line in strong fashion.
Running into second was Zealously (Harry Angel {Ire}), who got a long way back before putting in some strong bounds late under riding by Kerrin McEvoy to snatch second from Manos (Snitzel), who wasn’t asked to exert himself by Mark Zahra.
Much like the previous heat, the first three home are prepared by Peter and Paul Snowden, the stable that has been the most visible in countering the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott army with their juveniles, both in terms of quantity and quality.
Alinea continues to show her promise
Building off her nice victory in a heat on January 9, Alinea (Written Tycoon) took Heat 13 by storm on Monday morning, winning the 741-metre dash by 3.41l in a time of 42.40s.
Pouncing on the lead to find herself in clear air within 100 metres, the baldy faced filly broke away from stablemates Southern Charm (Shalaa {Ire}), Enter The Dragon (Capitalist) and Satin Shimmer (I Am Invincible) to win in soft fashion under Regan Bayliss.
The quartet of Waterhouse and Bott runners filled the first four placings, albeit spread across 7.81l, with both Catonahotinroof (Too Darn Hot {GB}) and Photograph (Blue Point {Ire}) missing the start noticeably, and being unable to catch up to the frenetic pace set at the top of the field.
Lady Of Camelot clocks in with another dominant performance
There was much hype bestowed on Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon) a fortnight ago, having powered away in a 899-metre heat at Canterbury Park to win by an astonishing 9.21l as the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott 2-year-old juggernaut rolls on.
The margin may not have been as pronounced this time, but she was able to win in dominant fashion in her 741-metre heat, clocking in 2.92l ahead of Extreme Diva (Extreme Choice) in a time of 42.44s.
Firing straight to the front under jockey Tim Clark, the exciting filly had already built a margin heading into the corner, which she was able to hold down the straight under light riding.
Second-placed Extreme Diva was solid throughout, and looked to be an improver, having finished third to Lady Of Camelot, beaten 9.51l, in their previous trial on January 9.
Gallery: Heat 14 Randwick trials, images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
One runner that caught the eye was fourth-placed Hoffman (Spirit Of Boom), who was doing his best work through the line. Even though his stablemate clocked in 5.7l ahead of him, his run indicates that he will make a nice prospect as he gets over a bit of ground.
Older horses gearing up for strong autumn
While the focus may have been on the juveniles, there was no shortage of quality older horses sighted on Monday morning, with a number of talented types using the trials as a fitness-building opportunity.
One of the most accomplished triallers in modern racing, Malkovich (Choisir) won Heat 1 in nice fashion, defeating Group-performers Mumbai Muse (Zoustar), Blanc De Blanc (I Am Invincible), Kristilli (Hellbent), Ganbare (Maurice {Jpn}), Stroke Of Luck (Fastnet Rock), Athabascan (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}) and Osmose (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}). He completed the 850-metre course in a time of 48.46s, a slower time than recorded by Prost over the same distance.
In Heat 2, Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) narrowly defeated stablemate Hip Hip Hurrah (Snitzel) in a time of 49.07s for the 850-metre circuit, in a field featuring top-class gallopers Maximal (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Arapaho (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Major Beel (NZ) (Savabeel) and Private Eye (Al Maher). The latter finished last, beaten by 9.5l, but was asked for no effort by Nash Rawiller, just sauntering around under his own steam.
Later in the morning, Introducing (Trapeze Artist) put in a nice performance over 1050 metres, winning Heat 7 by 0.63l in a time of 1:01.66, while Heat 8 saw a nice pipe-opener for Godfather (I Am Invincible), who defeated Les Vampires (Pierro) by 0.28l in a time of 1:02.12.
