Richebourg flies home in trial
Celavi clocks fastest time at Tuesday's trials
For a horse who has missed making the board just three times from 14 outings, Richebourg hasn't been making the headlines as often as expected.
Well, some horses are like that. Through no fault of theirs, they seem to get passed over.
Still they plod on - diligent in their work and dogged when they race.
Like at the trials on Tuesday morning, Richebourg made you sit up and take notice.
With track rider Seow Poh Hui on the reins, the five-year-old cleared the innermost gate cleanly but was snagged back to be last of the seven runners when the field made the turn on the far side.
Out in front at the 600m, newcomers The August and Khan were enjoying themselves as they played catch-me-if-you-can with the rest.
Where was Richebourg? He was a dozen lengths behind and taking in the scenery.
Into the straight and Seow angled Richebourg to the outside for clear running room and that was where the action began.
Seemingly as if she had clipped a pair of wings on the hoofs of her mount, Richebourg - well - put on wings.
A hundred metres out and Khan and The August looked home and hosed. And, while they were engrossed in their own battle, along came Richebourg.
Opening up like he normally does in his races, the Mark Walker-trained galloper swooped on the front pair, gave them windburn before stretching out to win by a length and in a time of 60.97sec.
He had come from last to first - just like he did in May last year when he beat Fame Star - yes, THE Fame Star, a winner of his last six starts, including the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy .
Indeed, he was just one of five who managed to make Fame Star eat their dust in 2019.
So it was, on this Tuesday morning, Richebourg passed his 1,000m test with flying colours and, in the process, took another bold step towards his first race of 2020.
He was down to contest Race 7 on Saturday, but was pulled out by Walker.
Watch him at his next start because, when the day comes and, if he can fashion a run similar to what we saw on Tuesday, it could be a winning comeback - and a deserving one, too.
The fastest time of the morning belonged to Celavi.
From Michael Clements' yard, the filly toyed with the boys when clocking a flashy 60.43sec for the 1,000m.
Out in front like as if propelled from a catapult, Celavi quickly stamped her authority on the rest.
She was three lengths clear of Per Incrown (S John) and Eastiger (R Maia) at the 600m mark and they never did get to sniff her flanks.
With the finish in sight, Celavi (L Beuzelin) didn't ease up and she eventually took the trial by over three lengths.
A $100,000 purchase at the sales, Celavi arrived unraced in June last year.
Four months later, she made it a winning debut when taking out a Restricted Maiden event by three lengths.
She was back a fortnight later and collected a cheque when third behind the very-talented Inferno in a Class 4 affair over the 1,200m.
Since then, Celavi has not had a race. But she does seem raring to go and it could pay to keep her on your shortlist.
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