Boy Wonder romps home in style
Freedman's Curvature also wins big in Tuesday's trials
After five runs, Boy Wonder hasn't yet shown us any super hero stuff but his day in the sun could come sooner rather than later.
Anyone who had watched his trial at Kranji on Tuesday morning would have gathered much.
After all, and while it wasn't spectacular, it was full of merit and with natural progression he should pick up a win.
Ridden by Vlad Duric at the trials, the Brazilian-bred was always going to be too good for his six rivals and, when he did open up at the 250m mark, the only question remaining was how much distance would he put between them?
Well, as it turned out, "five" was the magic number. Five lengths, that is. And the horse he beat was none other than classic winner, Infantry.
More about the Horse Of The Year later. For now, let's shine the spotlight on Boy Wonder and, it must be said, he did a good job.
Clearing the chute cleanly, he allowed Fragrance Empire (Mark Ewe) to dictate things early. But, with the pace waning, he went to the front at the 600m mark and was never headed.
Flip the coin over and Infantry was a bit tardy out of the gates and Ryan Curatolo settled him in fourth when they made that sweeping turn on the far side.
Into the stretch and when switched to the outside for clear running room, Infantry seemed in his element but, by then, Boy Wonder had pinched too big an advantage and the "master" was never going to catch the "apprentice".
So it was, Boy Wonder stole the show - clocking a really solid time of 60.98sec - easing up - for the 1,000m sprint.
Prepared for the races by former "wonder boy" in the saddle, Saimee Jumaat, Boy Wonder came agonisingly close to breaking the duck when he went down by a nostril to King Louis on Gold Cup Day last year.
He has yet to make a race appearance in 2018 but, when he does face the starter, have something riding on him. He deserves that winning break.
As for Infantry, he lost no marks in Tuesday's trial. It wasn't mind-blowing but it did suggest he's on the right track to take up from where he left off.
If Boy Wonder's five-length win was good stuff, it wasn't the only runaway success on Tuesday.
You should have seen "new registration" Curvature in his hit-out.
Tracking the runaway leader Mystic Master, he was three lengths in arrears when they straightened.
SHOCK
If Mystic Master thought he had it all sewn up, he was in for a shock. Craig Grylls on Curvature fashioned a run 250m out and, like a hot knife through butter, he sliced that lead, hit the front and drew away over the final 200m to win by almost 10 lengths.
A newcomer from Lee Freedman's yard, Curvature was a winner over 1,300m in Victoria before being flown out here where - and on the strength of that really impressive trial victory - he should carry on the good work.
Watch him on his Kranji debut. It could be a winning one.
Tuesday's barrier trials results
TRIAL 1 (ORT)
1 David's Star (Y Salim)
2 Alamak (V Duric)
3 Wolf Warrior (R Curatolo)
4 Waialae (C Grylls)
5 Turf Princess (R Iskandar)
Margins and time: 3, 2¾, 3, 3¼ (1min 01.59sec)
TRIAL 2
1 Curvature (Grylls)
2 Mystic Master
3 Lucky Tiger (Iskandar)
4 Lucky Red
5 Merchant Marine (CC Wong)
6 Macho Man (Curatolo)
Margins and time: 9½, nk, shd, 11, 2¾ (1:01.46)
TRIAL 3
1 Boy wonder (Duric)
2 Infantry (Curatolo)
3 Legendary Sun (Wong)
4 Well done (Y Salim)
5 Fragrance Empire (M Ewe)
6 Golden Curl (Grylls)
7 Don De La Vega (M Rodd)
8 Nimitz (WH Kok)
Margins and time: 5, 1½, ½, ½, ¾, 2¾ , 4 (1:00.98)
TRIAL 4
1 Foresto (Iskandar)
2 Satellite Master (Grylls)
3 Swift Embrace (S Noh)
4 Iron Fist (N Nurshahril)
5 Secret Squirrel
6 Roughead (Rodd)
7 Satellite Turbo (Duric)
8 Confide (E Aslam)
Margins and time: 1¼, 2, nk, ½, 5½, hd, ½ (1:02.11)
WEDNESDAY’S HONG KONG RESULTS
RACE 1
1st 3 Fine With Me ($28-$10)
2nd 2 Victory Follow Me ($7)
3rd 8 Celebration ($76)
4th 1 Megatron
Forecast $21
Place Forecast (2-3) $9, (3-8) $106, (2-8) $59
Tierce $1,928 Trio $542
Quartet No winner ($5,878 jackpot carried forward to next race).
Quadro $1,291
RACE 2
1st 6 Happy Rocky ($74-$18)
2nd 7 Garlic Yeah ($8)
3rd 8 King Bountiful ($15)
4th 1 Cloud Nine
Forecast $52
Place Forecast (6-7) $17, (6-8) $38, (7-8) $17
Tierce $802 Trio $97
Quartet $2,257
Quadro $316
RACE 3
1st 2 Packing Dragon ($60-$16)
2nd 3 Prawn Baba ($9)
3rd 7 Rickfield ($7)
4th 6 Happilababy
Forecast $52
Place Forecast (2-3) $17, (2-7) $12, (3-7) $6 Tierce $535 Trio $102
Quartet $5,824 Quadro $110
RACE 4
1st 8 Sharpmind ($17-$7)
2nd 9 Funny Buddies ($9)
3rd 6 Gouten Of Garo ($19)
4th 11 Formula Galore
Forecast $15
Place Forecast (8-9) $6, (6-8) $18, (6-9) $23
Tierce $259 Trio $34
Quartet $3,461 Quadro $148
RACE 5
1st 1 Navas ($101-$27)
2nd 4 Numero Uno ($28)
3rd 9 Golden Glory $7)
4th 2 Travel Datuk
Forecast $271
Place Forecast (1-4) $63, (1-9) $25, (4-9) $23
Tierce $2,281 Trio $215
Quartet No winner ($4,564 jackpot carried forward to next race).
Quadro $564
Scratching: 10 My Honey
RACE 6
1st 2 High Volatility ($15-$7)
2nd 5 Gentry ($26)
3rd 7 Mr Kool ($22)
4th 4 Contribution
Forecast $60
Place Forecast (2-5) $19, (2-7) $16, (5-7) $55
Tierce $690 Trio $155
Quartet $4,137 Quadro $366
RACE 7
1st 5 Charity Glory ($30-$9)
2nd 12 Spring Win ($7)
3rd 11 Sunny Dragon ($28)
4th 1 Breeders' Star
Forecast $24
Place Forecast (5-12) $9, (5-11) $47, (11-12) $26
Tierce $1,158 Trio $292
Quartet No winner ($3,5544 jackpot carried forward to next race).
Quadro $757
RACE 8
1st 12 Let's Take It Easy ($46-$15)
2nd 2 Imperial Gallantry ($8)
3rd 10 Super Lucky ($88)
4th 5 Land Grant
Forecast $34
Place Forecast (2-12) $12, (10-12) $154, (2-10) $97
Tierce $2,989
Trio $468
Quartet No winner ($9,560 jackpot carried forward to next HK meeting).
Quadro $1,525
Withdrawals for Singapore races
NON-ACCEPTORS FOR FRIDAY’S KRANJI MEETING
RACE 1: Sun Scraper
RACE 5: Augustanoand On Electric Avenue
RACE 7: Dusseldorf and O’Reilly’s Dancer
RACE 8: Rich Fortune and Mastermind
NON-ACCEPTORS FOR SUNDAY’S KRANJI MEETING
RACE 1: D’Don
RACE 2: Bangkok Boy
RACE 3: Patroclus and Little Big Man
RACE 4: Ma You Cai and Eastiger
RACE 7: Dutrow
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