Ace King trials like a rising star
A popular winner on debut last month, ACE KING showed at the trials yesterday morning that he was holding that form and could carry it into the 2017 season.
Having a practice run in the second trial of the morning, the son of Swiss Ace stalked the pace until the field fanned out for that run home.
Given rein and a dig in the ribs by Manoel Nunes, Ace King seemed all too happy to abandon the waiting game. Picking up speed when they had straightened, he lengthened strides to beat IRON MAN by a length. GOLDEN PENINSULA, who was always well up with the place, stayed on for third - but he was well out of it.
Ace King, who is prepared for the races by Theo Kieser, clocked 60.69sec for the 1,000m run on the Polytrack which, until Tuesday had been "under repairs".
Ace King, who had four trials - winning two and finishing second in the other two - before being sent to the races, would have carried stable confidence on debut on Nov 18.
However, racegoers made Isaac the raging favourite - probably on the strength of his smack-up second to Dreams Comes True in his previous start.
Well, on the day, Ace King proved too smart for Isaac who, once again, had to play bridesmaid.
Another pick-up from the trials was the good showing by Ricardo Le Grange. Set to make his training debut in the New Year, he was quick to make his presence felt, winning three of the seven trials.
HAT-TRICK
He took the third of the morning with ODE TO JOY then quickly doubled his score with ELUSIVE EMPEROR winning Trial 4 before MIGHTY KENNY wrapped things up nicely and neatly, winning the fifth with a leg in the air.
Another good winner on the day was REDOUBT. Ridden by John Powell, he took the lead on settling and never surrendered it - winning the final trial of the morning rather comfortably. Watch him in the near future. He certainly looked better than the showing on Nov 27 when, on debut, he beat just three home in a race run over the 1,100m on the Poly.
Kranji barrier trial results
TRIAL 1
1 Forever Young (A Munro)
2 Justice Light (R Shafiq)
3 Aotearoa (H Syafiq)
4 Perfect DJ
5 Frances (Z Zuriman)
6 Cote De Nuits (I Saifudin)
7 Jango (CC Wong)
8 Golden Spark (CK Ng)
Margins and time: Ns, 4, ½, 1, ¾, shd, 4¾ (1min 01.41sec).
TRIAL 2
1 Ace King (M Nunes)
2 Iron Man (MM Firdaus)
3 Golden Peninsula (S Shafrizal)
4 Mighty Emperor (Wong)
5 Constance's Spirit (Munro)
6 Gannet (R Zawari)
7 Montaigne (J Powell)
8 Smart Fortune (Saifudin)
Margins and time: 1, 3½, 1¾, 1¼, 2¼, 1¼, 14 (1:00.69).
TRIAL 3
1 Ode To Joy (Firdaus)
2 Darci Charmer (Shafrizal)
3 Board Walk (Wong)
4 Crazy Times (Zawari)
5 Lim's Action (E Aslam)
6 Catch Me Great (Saifudin)
7 One Rar (M Kellady)
8 Queen Roulette (M Zaki)
Margins and time: 3, 1¼, nk, 1, ½, ¾, 2½ (1:01.86).
TRIAL 4
1 Elusive Emperor (Firdaus)
2 Turquoise King (Shafiq)
3 Super Joe (Wong)
4 Show Far Show Good (Zawari)
5 Good Deal (Saifudin)
6 Knight Wager
Margins and time: Hd, ½, 1¼, 1¼, shd (1:01.88).
TRIAL 5
1 Mighty Kenny (Firdaus)
2 The Jeuneyman (Wong)
3 Siamese Cat (Munro)
4 Invincible Man (WS Chan)
5 Perkins (CK Ng)
6 Smiddy Byrne (Powell)
7 Mr Exchequer (Kellady)
8 Joe (Z Syed)
Margins and time: 1¾, 3¼, 1¼, 1, ns, nk, 5¼ (1:01.33).
TRIAL 6
1 Untapped (Wong)
2 Changbai Mountain (Powell)
3 Han Solo (CK Ng)
4 Mighty Glory (Firdaus)
5 Funkadelic
6 Dragon Steed (Kellady)
7 Master Banger (Saifudin)
8 Military Alliance (Syed)
Margins and time: Ns, 5¼, ns, 4½, ½, ns, 9 (1:00.96).
TRIAL 7
1 Redoubt (Powell)
2 Zac Ace (Firdaus)
3 Dayuan (Shafrizal)
4 Magnificent (Wong)
5 Bonjour Bob (Munro)
6 Mr Blossom
7 Greenback (Syed)
8 King Of Thieves (Saifudin)
9 Bastion
Margins and time: 1¾, 1¾, 4½, 2¼, 1¼, 2¼, 4¼, 32¼ (1:01.35).
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