Terrific trial by Elite Conquest
Freedman-trained runner clocks sizzling 58.91sec on Tuesday
It should be sooner rather than later that we see Elite Conquest in the winners' enclosure at Kranji.
Wise to the ways of racing, the five-year-old has already been in that hallowed place five times before.
Alas, all of it happened at a racecourse called Woodbine in faraway Canada.
Now plying his trade in Singapore where he is being prepared for the races by Lee Freedman, Elite Conquest has - so to speak - had three "warm-up" runs and is now ripe and ready for that winning effort.
Included in that prep for the real thing was a trial on Tuesday morning. Needless to say, he took our breath away.
Ridden by Daniel Moor and jumping from Gate 6 in that seven-horse shoot-out, Elite Conquest was, well, all conquering.
Sitting third early, he took over the lead before the 600m marker and never gave the others a look-in. Up in the saddle, Moor had nothing to do except play navigator.
Elite Conquest was truly up to the task. Three hundred metres out and he had a three-length break on his stablemate, Made In Russia.
My Dreamliner, the mount of Benny Woodworth, made a bold bid in the closing stages but there was no catching Elite Conquest.
He just kept getting better. His aim, it seemed, was to dominate and, to an amazing extent, he did.
The others tried but he was running as if in contempt of the clock.
At the end of the 1,000m, Elite Conquest had put almost six lengths between himself and My Dreamliner and he had done the job in a sizzling 58.91sec.
Right now, the American-bred is racing off 74 rating points.
He's much better than that and, with natural progression, we should soon be seeing contest the really big races.
Another one who impressed at the trials was Big Hearted.
The smart two-year-old was a tad slow to get going. Indeed, Vlad Duric on the youngster could see them all when they angled out for the run home.
Still hugging the rails, Big Hearted responded with turbo power when Duric pushed the button.
Very soon, Trigamy was toast. The tearaway leader had ripped along too fast and 200m out, his legs were beginning to feel like leadened weights and he was going nowhere - except maybe, up and down in one spot.
With the trial safely in the bag, Duric went easy on Big Hearted who still had three parts of a length to spare on the fast-finishing Duxton when they crossed the finish line. Trigamy settled for third.
From Michael Clements' yard, the juvenile is, like his name seems to suggest, big hearted.
He's got next Friday's Aushorse Golden Horseshoe in his crosshairs. He won the first leg in May and he will like nothing better than to grab another one for his owners, The Falcon Racing Stable. I reckon he's up to it.
His show in Tuesday's trial where he worked home so strongly on the back of a fast tempo does suggest he will be giving the rest windburn when he flies at them over the concluding stages.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
