Mighty Kenny could be Le Grange's Colonial Chief Stakes hope
Six-year-old wins his trial on Tuesday with plenty of authority
With three runners in the Colonial Chief Stakes to be run on Sunday, Ricardo Le Grange must be the envy of his fellow trainers.
And, to add to their misery, all three - Perfect P, Saraab and Mighty Kenny - look to be winning hopes.
Of those, we saw Mighty Kenny at the trials on Tuesday and his showing would have warmed the hearts of Le Grange and connections.
Ridden by Barend Vorster, who has been closing the season on a high, Mighty Kenny put up a more than decent performance over the 1,000m.
CONTENT TO SETTLE
Out of his wide gate just fairly, Vorster hooked him back and they seemed content to settle in fifth spot in that nine-horse trial.
They made up some ground and at the 600m, when leaders Sun Dream and Mastermind seemed to be running on empty and extremely wide.
Indeed, with Vorster sitting stone cold in the saddle, they began to fashion a run.
Straightening up for the run home and Mighty Kenny had to take the scenic route just so as to avoid the weakening horses who were coming back into the pack.
However, with 250m to travel, Mighty Kenny went full throttle and that effectively killed off the desire in the rest.
He would win with lengths to spare.
Among other things, Mighty Kenny's trial showed that he had come through the Dester Singapore Gold Cup race without any issues.
He had run a mighty race to take sixth spot in the big race - but this 1,700m affair on Sunday looks more like his thing and it wouldn't surprise to see him run a terrific race.
Now, wouldn't that bring a smile on Le Grange - who has so far had a sensational season.
Also impressive at the trials was a newcomer named Yulong Xiongyin.
From trainer David Kok's yard, the three-year-old colt was having a pacifiers' test and it must have suited him nicely.
After all, it was an "off and run" performance by the nice-looking chestnut colt.
Making every post a winning one, Yulong Xiongyin turned the eight-horse trial into a one-horse show - scooting away in the early stages and winding down over the concluding stages to win by two and a half lengths.
Ridden by Mark Ewe, the colt clocked a swift time of 59.62sec for the trip.
On that showing, it'll pay to keep tabs on him because a winning debut isn't out of the question.
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