Effortless puts in a flashy gallop

Effortless is getting long in the tooth but apparently, he doesn't know it. Or rather, he prefers to believe he's still a randy juvenile.

The seven-year-old was one of the stars on the training track at Kranji yesterday morning when he reeled off the 600m in a swift 37.5sec.

John Powell was on board, doing the steering.

Winless since the beginning of the season when he clobbered a Class 4 field over the flying 1,000m on the Polytrack, he showed a return to form at his last start.

Ridden by Powell in yet another Class 4 dash, Effortless was doing his best work at the finish when second to the very talented Excelling.

That day, no horse was going to catch the Lee Freedman-trained galloper who led from the get-go to romp in by almost three lengths.

But Effortless did put in a mighty effort.

From the in-form yard of trainer Shane Baertschiger, Effortless has already won four races in a career which has seen him face the starter 45 times going back to 2015.

PREFERRED SURFACE

He's best over the short sprints and his preferred surface is the Poly. He gets them both on Sunday and, as always we can expect a good, honest run from the ol' fella.

Also impressive on the training track was Diamond Beauty.

She had jockey Michael Rodd on the reins when running the 600m in 39.5sec.

Prepared for the races by Cliff Brown, the strapping mare has yet to greet the judge. But, in her defence, she has only been to the races five times.

Still, she did catch the eye at her last start when second to Axel in a Class 4 affair over the 1,400m.

That day, Diamond Beauty was a tad slow out of the chute. Indeed, as they negotiated that sweeping turn which brought the field to the top of the stretch, his rider Joseph Azzopardi could see the bobbing bottoms of nearly all the other jockeys.

Clearly, that wasn't in the script so he searched for a opening and found one. Then, pointing Diamond Beauty at the light, he hit the accelerator.

Diamond Beauty responded and was shouted the winner until Axel came with a sweeping run to score on the line.

Still, the mare was not disgraced. It was, by far, her best run to date and the door to the champagne room will soon open for her connections.

Also on Sunday, you might want to have something riding on Sacred Guru in the Class 4 event over the 1,400m on turf.

From Mark Walker's yard, he had MM Firdaus in the saddle when covering the 600m in a flashy 36.8sec.

It was a fine piece of work from the just-turned six-year-old who has been placed second twice in his last three starts.

Punters would have lost a pretty packet in mid-July when Sacred Guru went down by a nose to I Am The One after being sent off as the $21 second pick.

He had staged a tremendous battle with the winner all the way up the straight and needed just one more stride to take the goodies.

If you were one of those who backed "The Guru" that day, I say stick with him.

Walker has got him ticking again and a win wouldn't surprise.