Mach makes light of heavy track
The best workouts from Kranji yesterday morning
One of just four runners in Sunday's "Novice" with the experience of having greeted the judge, Mach showed that he was ready to put one more win on the board when he produced a smart gallop on the training track yesterday morning.
With rain and thunder making for a dismal morning, Mach ran the 600m in 37.3sec on the soggy track. He had WH Kok up in the saddle.
On what we have seen so far, the son of Casino Prince looks like he could be a star in 2019.
Just a three-year-old - and one of five in the race - Mach's win over Hugo in September was good stuff.
He had come into the race on the back of a second-placed finish behind No Fun No Gain and punters remembered that he didn't have things his way during the race.
Like, being inconvenienced and unable to obtain a clear run on entering the home stretch.
They expected him to make amends and he did.
With Glen Boss doing the steering, Mach was parked just off the leading pack for the early part of the journey. Three hundred metres from home, Boss found an opening between horses, pointed Mach at it and the youngster did the rest.
At the finish, he was half a length in front of Hugo.
Mach had shown early potential when he won a trial in 61.36sec. He then went on to run second on debut.
Last time out, the Steven Burridge-trained youngster found himself facing a really good one in Siam Vipasiri and had to settle for second.
As just a three-year-old, Mach is well treated at the weights. He gets in with just 53kg and, jumping from Gate Six in Race 6, he should get an economical run.
Trainer Bruce Marsh does seem to hold a pair of aces in Race 9 - the Class 4 Non Premier sprint over the mile - and yesterday both were put through their paces with little to separate them.
Blitz Power, ridden by John Powell, started a couple of lengths behind O'Reilly Bay - the mount of leading apprentice Troy See - but quickly cut into that deficit to finish level.
The pair clocked 37.3sec.
A mare by Iffraaj, Blitz Power will be gunning for a hat-trick of wins having already put together a race-to-race double.
The first win was over the 1,200m in September and she followed it up by winning a 1,400m event last month.
Blitz Power runs her races her own way. If you didn't know better, you would think she's in a coma as she lolls around near the rear.
But she seems to know what to do and, at the business end of things, she is the one charging home.
The 1,600m she has to travel on Sunday looks right up her alley.
As for O'Reilly Bay, he's an old hand, having raced 34 times for four wins. Owned by Lincoln Farms Stable, he won his last start in good fashion.
Ridden by Troy See, he took command early in the 1,600m race and had it won on his terms - beating Zulu Warrior by almost a length.
The mile seems his caper, having won three times over the trip and, like always, he'll give his backers an honest show.
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