First trial (All Unraced horses) over 1000m poly 11 March 2018
1st Arianos Shadow (2yof 56(-1,5)kg) A strongly built Querari filly. She digs the toe in and showed pace from the off. She was being eased down at the line.
2nd 0,5 lengths Immortelle (2yoc 57kg) Well balanced R220,000 colt by Querari. He was up with the pace from a low draw and displayed a nice, big action.
3rd 1 length Goliath Heron (2yoc 57kg) Nice looking colt by Master Of My Fate who still has a lot of maturing to do. He took a keen hold when dropped out from draw six of seven, but moved up well in the straight still in the hands, showing he has plenty of natural speed.
4th Full Frolic (2yof 56kg) Another well put together Querari filly who cost R200,000. She showed some pace and was being eased at the line like the rest of them.
5th Beat It (2yof 56(+4)kg). She is rangy type who looks a lot like her father Jackson, who was known for his big stride. She showed a smooth stride throughout and responded well when asked to quicken towards the finish.
6th Dashuri (2yof 56kg) A What A Winter filly, she displayed a nice action and has a bit of filling out to do so has scope for improvement.
7th J J’S Captain (2yoc 57(-1,5)kg. This R375,000 Captain Al colt is a nice looking specimen despite not being the biggest of horses. He dwelt and threw his head up for a number of strides while showing good pace to go from last to third. He was still over racing behind the leaders around the turn, but displayed a lovely big action when just being sat on in the straight. His last place was not a reflection of his promise.
Second trial 1000m poly 11 March 2018
1st Saratoga Dancer (6yog MR112 60kg) This top class sort put up an excellent trial, showing speed from the off and cruising home with his beautiful long stride and putting a distance between himself and the rest.
2nd Roy’s Stingray 9,5 lengths (3yof 58(-4)kg) Scopey Australian-bred Charge Forward filly with a good action and quite a high head carriage in the running. She ran on in eye-catching fashion on debut over 1600m on the Greyville turf for a narrow fourth last October and was only letting herself down in the final strides, so there is plenty of scope for improvement. She returned from a 140 day layoff for this trial and was soon up in joint-second. She once again displayed a nice big action under a relatively high head carriage in the straight without being asked any questions.
3rd Palmieto 10 lengths (3yof 58kg), a plain Indigo Magic three-year-old filly who had two fair green-and-running-on fourths in moderate maidens over 1450m and 1600m at Turffontein and she then finished last over 1800m with first-time blinkers when not striding out. Her trial followed a 152 day layoff and the blinkers were off. She showed good gatespeed but was then outpaced before staying on without being hard-pressed.
4th Yarraman 10,05 lengths (3yog 59(-4)kg) Small but strongly built three-year-old Await The Dawn gelding who made a promising debut over 1400m on the poly when staying on well from last without being asked many questions last October. Next time out he disappointed when starting at 7/2 and was found to be lame and this trial followed a 142 layoff. He showed pace from the off to be joint-second and stretched out nicely the whole way without being asked to do a lot.
5th Double Gemini 12,05 lengths (3yog 59kg) Solidly built unraced Twice over gelding who was slowly away and then stayed on with quite a nice stride.
6th World Cruise 13,8 lengths (3yog 59kg) gangly unraced three-year-old Mogok gelding with some scope. He jumped awkwardly, losing ground and was then green with a high head carriage the whole way but has a fair stride so should improve with experience.
By David Thiselton
