Stars put on a show at trials

It was on a damp Tuesday morning that the stars came out to play and - as is always the case - they helped brighten up the four trials held that day.

Zac Kasa, Surpass Natural and Inferno highlighted the action.

Two of them - Zac Kasa and Inferno - lived up to their star billing by winning their respective trials.

But there was no blemish on the run of Surpass Natural who, while not out to grab any headlines, finished a good third behind Zac Kasa.

As expected, Cliff Brown's grey ghost Zac Kasa lived up to his high rating of 94 points to return the fastest time of the morning.

He went under the minute mark, clocking 59.75sec for the 1,000m. That he did after proving to be a bit of a larrikin behind the gates.

But, reluctant as he was to enter the stalls, he had no qualms when it came to leaving it.

Indeed, he jumped cleanly and jockey Daniel Moor settled him down behind the lead set by Sacred Sham (Seow Poh Hui) and Surpass Natural who galloped under a good hold by TR Barnabas.

Zac Kasa straightened in third spot but, racing widest, he had the front pair covered and it was only a matter of time before he cut them down to size.

That he did - and rather easily.

With 100m to travel, Moor pushed the button and Zac Kasa took off, sweeping to the front to win by half a length.

Sacred Sham held on for second spot while Barnabas sat easy on trainer Leticia Dragon's five-time winner, Surpass Natural, never asking him to do too much or too little.

He clocked 60.07sec, which on any other day and in any other trial, would have made the headlines.

But, on Tuesday morning, it was all about Zac Kasa.

A winner of some high-class races, he has been missing from the winner's enclosure for some time now.

Indeed, it was a year ago that he last had his picture taken with his connections.

That was on Feb 17 when he beat a Class 1 field over the 1,200m, clocking 1min 09.66sec for the journey.

That's history. Right now, just remember that Zac Kasa is back in business.

What more can be said of Inferno that hasn't already been said? Quite a bit, actually.

Recently crowned Singapore's Top Two-Year-Old, Inferno snuffed out his nine rivals in Trial 3 with a blistering run over the concluding stages.

Snagged back by Michael Rodd to sit near last in the early part of the trial, he was still unsighted when the field straightened.

Then, and as we have become accustomed to, Rodd lit the fuse which set Inferno alight.

Gobbling up those in front of him, he swept to the front and held off stablemate So You Too (Patrick Moloney) to win by half a length.

Now a three-year-old and already a winner of four from four, the son of Holy Roman Emperor has yet to begin his 2020 campaign.

He has been touted the next big thing in Singapore racing. Well, you'd better believe it.