Zac Kasa blows away his rivals at the trials
Tuesday's action also produces two other stars in Boy Wonder and Grand Cross
Remember the name Zac Kasa. This precocious grey from Clifford Brown's yard is going to beat his rivals black and blue in his next start.
That was the impression he gave at the trials on Tuesday morning when, after "showing off" before barrier rise and teasing the rest by racing wide, he swept past them like a hot knife through butter, to win by six lengths - easing up.
Ridden by Michael Rodd, it was an inspiring show by the youngster who, at his only Kranji start, ran an encouraging third to Easy Does It.
Another one to impress was China Horse Club Stable's Grand Cross. The five-year-old just keeps getting better and he showed it by winning his trial with some kind of authority.
Indeed, his trainer James Peters would have been delighted with the way his sprinter dictated things - especially over the concluding stages. Pressured all the way by stablemate White Chin and, to some extent, Ebraz, Grand Cross never got the staggers.
And while the margin of victory was just half a length, Grand Cross always carried that hard eye of a contender and his jockey Vlad Duric's body language said he knew he had the trial sewn up - even when challenged.
A son of Fastnet Rock, Grand Cross clocked 61.12sec for the 1,000m. It was his first win in seven trials going back to June last year.
However, punters will remember Grand Cross for his victories at the races - and he has had three so far.
The last was in March when he blew away his Class 3 rivals in a race run over the 1,200m on grass. Tuesday's showing at the trials does suggest it won't take a momentous effort from him to win at his next start. I was also impressed by the way Boy Wonder went about his business in his "test" on Tuesday.
Boy Wonder was having a pacifiers' test and although he cleared the chute without problems, he gave his rider, Syafiq, a torrid time over the initial 500m, tossing his head and seemingly pulling for all his worth.
Still, he managed to stay up in front but the early "fighting" had taken its toll and when Jupiter Gold found a split between him and Perfect Gold, Boy Wonder just could not muster a fightback.
He would finish second - just a length in arrears of the highly-talented Jupiter Gold and another length in front of Perfect Gold.
Prepared by Lee Freedman, Boy Wonder has had three runs for two seconds. At his last start, which was in late July, the Brazilian-bred runner jumped from an outside gate but quickly put daylight between himself and the rest.
He was still in front with 250m to go but had no answer to the finishing power of Refresh who had the prize won at the 100m mark. The four-year-old was down to run in a Maiden tomorrow (Race 3) but was pulled out yesterday.
Freedman must have his reasons so we will just have to wait a while longer to see the "Boy Wonder" do his thing.
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