Mokastar shines in trial
Ricardo Le Grange-trained five-time winner gets into top gear to win in joint-fastest time of the morning
Five-time winner Mokastar looks set to return to the winning list after a brief let-up.
At the trials at Kranji on Tuesday morning, the Ricardo Le Grange-trained four-year-old Australian-bred showed plenty of oomph to win in the joint-fastest time of the six trials staged.
Ridden by jockey Barend Vorster in the fourth heat, Mokastar was quickly off the blocks but Forever Young and Made In Russia moved up to clinch the lead and trapped Mokastar wide.
Singapore Guineas winner Forever Young held a slim lead over Made in Russia passing the 600m mark. Mokastar was on their outside, three wide. The next horse was a gap away.
The leading trio straightened up almost as one. Given a nudge by Vorster, Mokastar hit the front with 250m to go. He then lengthened when asked for more by Vorster.
At the post, he won by 23/4 lengths from Made In Russia, who was also quite i mpressive.
The winning time for the 1,000m on the Polytrack was 1min 00.76sec, the same as Trial 5 winner Golden Flame.
Mokastar last scored four starts back. That was in Class 1 on Aug 3, when he led all the way to beat Flak Jacket by 3/4 lengths in a Poly 1,000m dash. Flak Jacket has since won subsequently.
Mokastar finished a narrow fourth behind Saraab at his following start and his last-start seventh was not at all disgraceful. He was beaten only by about four lengths behind Maximus in a Kranji Stakes A race over the Poly 1,100m on Nov 9.
The short rest has proven to be beneficial and Mokastar looks set to greet the judge again, judging by his trial victory on Tuesday morning.
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