Sir Isaac turns on the style at the trials
With a hot date in Dubai beckoning, Sir Isaac strutted his stuff in style at the trials on Tuesday morning.
Taken out by Michael Rodd, he jumped with the rest but was snagged back to be near the rear and about 10 lengths in arrears when they made that first turn.
He was still last when they straightened but you could tell he had plenty in reserve. So, when Rodd peeled to the outside to fashion a run, we knew it was all over. Sir Isaac strode to the front and simply cleared away to win by three lengths - with Rodd never having to use the persuader on the four-year-old.
A prolific earner with more than $200,000 in the bank, Sir Isaac is going to win some nice races in the new season.
I was also impressed with Melting Point who won the fifth trial of the morning.
The handsome chestnut stole the lead at the 700m mark and, under John Powell, he kept up a brisk gallop to hold off a late charge by The Golden Goat. Belt And Road dropped in for third.
Trained by Leticia Dragon, Melting Point tried to "steal" it at his last start in November but was reeled back and beaten by Xiong Fong over the final 100m.
He would have benefited from that outing and after that good showing at the trials, I reckon we should see him winning a race in his next couple of starts. Pencil his name into your little black book.
Although a vet scratching from Sunday's races, Sun Scraper should also be greeting the judge sooner rather than later.
Taken out by CC Wong in the penultimate trial of the morning, he certainly looked good. Hounding the frontrunners all the way in that 1,000m sprint, it was only at the 200m mark that he began to fashion a run.
With the leaders running on empty - except for Battle Plan who loomed up to challenge, Wong urged Sun Scraper to the front. Once there, the son of Exceed And Excel was in his element and won going away by half a length.
Already a five-year-old, Sun Scraper has been finding it difficult getting that first win.
In fairness though, it should have come three starts back in October but, as luck would have it, Sun Scraper went down by a narrow margin - beaten by Super Joe in a truly thrilling 1,700m affair.
We expected improvement in his next two starts but it was not to be. That last one was in late November when he finished down the course in that race won by Lim's Archer.
Now, seven weeks later, we find Sun Scraper right there battling it out like a good horse. If he carries his trial form to the races - and there isn't any reason why that should not be - he will be winning a race real soon.
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