Last-start winners holding form
Bushido and Acrobat in fine trim for 'Novice' sprint
Like the quiet before the storm, there is little on tomorrow's card to get the adrenaline pumping.
However, as punters do their sums, trying to figure out the better bets for next week's Singapore Derby and the Aushorse Golden Horseshoe, they might want to divert some attention to the "Novice" event.
You see, with nine gung-ho three-year-olds taking on three horses a year older, it is shaping up to be an interesting contest which should unearth plenty of exciting talent.
On Tuesday morning, we saw Implement being put through his paces. From Lee Freedman's yard, he looked as hard as a brick.
Then, there was Catch The Tiger. From a red-hot stable, the Shane Baertschiger-trained runner wasn't asked to break any speed records but he looked well when running the 600m in 45sec.
He carried the hard eye of a contender.
As we have begun to accept and expect when there's just a Friday standalone meeting, there was little action on the training track yesterday.
However, in the calm of the morning, two runners entered for the "Novice" showed up for a spot of slow work and, it must be said, they looked primed for the task ahead.
The two were Bushido from the Michael Clements yard and trainer Stephen Gray's Acrobat.
Both have already been to the winners' circle and, not only that, both did it at their last starts.
Bushido was a smart winner on June 30. Coming into that race off a four-month break, he scored with a well-timed run over the final 200m.
It followed a fourth placing in late February when he had to race wide without cover for most of the trip.
The chestnut is going places and, come tomorrow, he should finish in the frame.
As for Acrobat, he too is a three-year-old chestnut who, just a month ago, won a thriller with young Australian apprentice Raquel Clark in the saddle.
That too, was over 1,400m - which is the same trip he has to run tomorrow.
Acrobat seems to race best when near the lead while Bushido likes to swoop.
It all makes for a grandstand finish in Race 7.
Just for the record, both Bushido and Acrobat did fast work on Monday.
Bushido had Joseph Azzopardi in the saddle when he ran the 600m in 37.7sec while Acrobat covered the same trip in 38.6sec. He had Ben Thompson on the reins.
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