So easy for Surpass Natural
Leticia Dragon's champ lights up the trials on Tuesday
Just how good in Surpass Natural? I'd say, very good. His record speaks volumes. Four runs. Four wins. He cruised in three and fought with manic determination to win the other.
It tells us that Surpass Natural isn't a one-trick pony. He's multi-talented. He can lead from the front or, when it suits, he can come off a midfield spot to swamp all who oppose him.
Is he truly on the road to a fifth win from five starts?
Leticia Dragon, his trainer, must believe her charge can do it. I do, too.
Surpass Natural is far from the finished product. Indeed he's a work in progress. There's still plenty of horse in him that we haven't seen.
Surpass Natural was at the trials on Tuesday morning and, like always, he made the others do the donkey work of trying to chase him down.
And he wasn't just messing about with a bunch of has-beens.
There was proven quality in the line-up for that third trial of the morning. Like Countofmontecristo, Heliosphere and Axel, who is on 68 rating points - and climbing.
But Surpass Natural wasn't cowed. Not one bit.
With John Powell guiding him along, he quickly settled into a rhythm. Three hundred metres into the trial and head carriage held high, he was rolling along.
Daniel Moor on Countofmontecristo gave chase. So too Vlad Duric on No Fun No Gain. But they were never going to get a whiff of the leader. As he raced away, the others looked like they were on a treadmill.
So it was - no bluster, no blather - that Powell drove him to win a trial which was rightfully his.
The four-year-old had clocked 59.72sec for the trip and, as we all know, anything below a minute when carrying weight - Surpass Natural carried 69kg - is something.
What about Countofmontecristo? Not much, really.
After being ridden cold for most of the 1,000m trip, Moor clicked him up a notch and off he went in pursuit of Powell's mount.
Granted, Surpass Natural wasn't asked to do anything extra. But for Countofmontecristo to get to within a head of the winner was a good effort.
He had stalked the speed and was doing his best work late. Is he up to landing the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Sunday? The jury's out on that.
Back to Surpass Natural, most times in sport, we use the word champion rather loosely. However, with this horse, it's a label he could easily carry.
That trial aside, there was a lot to like about the way Basilisk went about his work.
He didn't win his trial. Indeed, he finished fourth behind in the sprint won by Sacred Accord.
But over the final 100m, he was travelling better than the three in front of him.
It was less than a fortnight ago that Basilisk beat a Class 4 field over the 1,400m. It was his third success in 26 starts.
All his wins have been on the turf and over the 1,400m. It doesn't mean he cannot perform on the Poly but to finish in a flourish and be a nick over two lengths from the winner is a sign that he's holding his form.
I'll be looking forward to seeing him run his next race.
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