Inferno has us off our seats
Sacred Don, Amore Amore also trial well at Kranji on Tuesday morning
No disrespect to Sacred Don. He came out, he ran, he won his trial.
And he did it at a relatively quick clip, clocking 60.97sec for the Poly 1,000m.
But - sorry to say - as headlines go, the name of the horse he beat by half a length will be the name up there in bold print.
That's Inferno.
Or did you really expect something else?
On Tuesday morning, the champ once again put us in a corner, tempting us to find more words to describe his exploits.
Seriously, we're running out of them.
But, since we have to put a label on Inferno's showing at the trials, it will have to be "wow".
Yes, "wow" would have been the word on your lips when, from the 200m mark, the champ came powering from near last.
On the way, he gobbled up the stragglers like Usain Bolt would do to a bunch of weekend warriors jogging along East Coast Park.
Until then, he was in a coma, as Basilisk, Sacred Don and Ironclad made a race of it.
Inferno? He was lolling near the rear, in a world of his own, as if having a chin-wag with his pal, Vlad Duric.
But, like all good horses, once he caught sight of the finishing post, he instinctively knew that he had to get there first.
So, without much prompting from Duric, he took off - intent on mowing down all who were in front of him.
He nearly did. But Sacred Don had too much of a jump on him and second place was all he could manage.
Still, it was some show from trainer Cliff Brown's six-time winner.
Sure as ever, he's riding the crest of a wave. In the form he is in, a grand show in the Singapore Guineas on Saturday week could be an understatement.
As for trial winner Sacred Don, trainer Mark Walker will vouch that he's a good horse to have in the yard.
Four times already, he has greeted the judge.
On the occasions when he's been beaten, there have been excuses.
Like that last outing when he beat just one home.
That was in Class 3 and the 1,000m trip could have been a tad short.
He's a genuine Class 4 runner and the 1,200m is what he's looking for.
When it's all aligned, make sure you ride with him.
If there's another horse who is worth following from the trials, it has to be Amore Amore.
Beaten into second spot by a pretty smart youngster named Ablest Ascend, Amore Amore was doing his best work late.
Ridden by A'Isisuhairi Kasim, he came home on his own steam.
Owned by Lucky Unicorn Stable, he won an Open maiden contest in February.
In his only start since racing resumed, he ran sixth to Resolution.
Amore Amore is, quite definitely, a work in progress.
His second win should come sooner rather than later.
TRIAL 1 (ORT)
1 Jeram Gold (F Yusoff)
2 Golden Sprint (R Maia)
3 Tiger Leap (WH Kok)
4 Battlestar (V Duric)
5 Bad Boy Black (J Powell)
6 City Knight (I Saifudin)
7 Pit Bull
Margins and time: Ns, 3¼, ns, ½, 1½, 1½ (1:01.88)
TRIAL 2
1 Ablest Ascend (L Beuzelin)
2 Amore Amore (K A'Isisuhairi)
3 Captain Singapore (B Woodworth)
4 Golden Years (M Zaki)
5 Bethlehem (T Rehaizat)
6 The Archer (JP van der Merwe)
Margins and time: 3¼, 3, ns, ½, 2¾ (1:00.43)
TRIAL 3
1 Sacred Don
2 Inferno (Duric)
3 Basilisk (J See)
4 Rocket Star (M Lerner)
5 Grand Koonta (A'Isisuhairi)
6 Super Dynasty (Beuzelin)
7 Ironclad (WH Kok)
8 Buddy Buddy (S Noh)
Margins and time: ½, 1¼, hd, shd, ns, 2, ½ (1:00.97)
TRIAL 4
1 Absolute Miracle (N Zyrul)
2 Gold Star (A'Isisuhairi)
3 Against Gravity (M Zaki)
4 Satellite Warrior (See)
5 Elite Remarkable
6 Atlas (Duric)
7 Top Of The Line (Lerner)
8 Sun Ace (R Iskandar)
Margins and time: 1, ns, 1¾, nk, ¾, ¾, 1½ (1:00.86)
TRIAL 5
1 Accumulation
2 Vesontio (See)
3 Destiny Child (A'Isisuhairi)
4 Ace Harbour (T Krisna)
5 Qilin Top Form (Rehaizat)
6 Joyful Aspiration (Lerner)
7 Spirit Of D'Wind
Margins and time: Nk, 2¼, 1, 1, shd, ½ (1:01.42)
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