A big set of trials at Randwick on Tuesday morning saw the return of last year’s Golden Slipper winner Farnan and also five heats for juveniles, four of them won by the progeny of first season sires.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Farnan failed to figure in two starts last spring, but looked to be in good shape with this very easy all the way heat win with Tim Clark in the saddle.
Farnan is expected to trial again before making his autumn return in the Group I ATC The Galaxy (1100m) on March 20.
Runner-up in his heat was a horse that also might be in for a big autumn in The Irishman, a new Kiwi addition to the Mark Newnham stable.
A stakes-placed winner from just three starts, the son of Tavistock is bred on a magic cross being from a daughter of Zabeel.
He has a real mix of speed and stamina in his pedigree as his dam is a grand-daughter of Group I WATC Karrakatta Plate winner Hold That Smile with the family also producing triple Group I winning sprinter Sea Siren.
The juvenile heats held plenty of interest with established horses like Mallory, Readily Availabull, Robodira, O’President, Swift Witness and Converge all given quiet trials, but the performance of unraced Maurice (Jpn) colt Mazu was eye-catching.
A half-brother to Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Headway, the Peter and Paul Snowden trained colt showed good gate speed as he did at his first trial on February 5 and went forward out wide to race on the pace.
He was a little keen and inexperienced, but stuck to his guns well to win by the best part of a length, running only very slightly slower time than the impressive 2YO winner Captivant in the previous heat.
A $180,000 Inglis Classic purchase for Triple Crown Syndications from the Parsons Creek draft, Mazu is not big, but neither was Headway and she won over $1.1million and was second in a Golden Slipper.
Other heat winners were: Why Doubt (Not a Single Doubt), Russian Standard (Capitalist), Dragonstone (Mikki Isle(Jpn) and Captivant (Capitalist), who looked ready to rumble.
Click here to see all the trial results at Breednet with Sale Mail and at Racing NSW with video.
