At this early point in the Sydney spring it’s often about Everest horses showing their hand and promising colts stamping their ticket as future sire prospects and we saw a couple of each in action at the Randwick trials on Friday morning.
Heat 1
It was all quality in the first heat with Everest horses Private Eye and Lost and Running both performing well in a heat that also featured expensive Euro multiple G1 winner Alcohol Free, consistent sprinter King of Sparta and last season’s Group winning juveniles Red Resistance and Steel City.
Now a five year-old, I Am Invincible gelding King of Sparta looks set for his best ever racing season and after sniffing around the placings in a couple of Group I sprints last season could easily improve on that based on this trial where they zoomed to the line in 33.01 for the last 600m.
Third trial back for Russian Revolution colt Red Resistance and was not ideal, missing the kick before hunting forward and then fading, while Steel City didn’t do a bad job albeit finishing at the tail. She was back and wide all the way and did keep up with them to the line, so given the quality of the horses in front of her was a definite pass mark.
Private Eye was second in the Everest last year, while Lost and Running was sadly scratched from the race due to a leg infection and both horses did enough here to be confident they could make the field again this year.
Heat 3
Kingman colt King Colorado won the Group I BRC JJ Atkins (1600m) at just his third start, so the Maher and Eustace trained colt is well on his way to being an elite stallion prospect. He was pitched into the deep end first up in the Group I ATC Winx Stakes (!400m) at WFA against the older horses which you almost never see happen with a spring three year old and predictably he was not up to the task.
That said, he still ran well to finish ninth beaten two and a half lengths behind Fangirl and was kept up to the mark in this trial when he was asked to finish off and win. His best work was on the line and he’s going to take some beating when he goes back to his own age group.
Click here to see all the trial results at Breednet with Sale Mail and at Racing NSW with video.
