We had a busy morning with eight horses trialling at Cranbourne yesterday, including some ‘must watch’ performances that create excitement for their owners.
Early on we had 3yo gelding Licensed trialling over 800m. Ridden by Blake Shinn, he finished 2nd in a field of 10. Blake commented “He had a genuine trial today. He jumped well and responded when I asked him to pick up a little bit. He’ll take good improvement from today.”
He will trial again next week and then be off to the races.
Watch his trial replay here.
Half an hour later, Speranzoso returned to the trials after his winter break. Over 800m, ridden by Paul Gatt he finished 3rd, beaten less than a length.
“He was quite sharp actually, he jumped, showed plenty of speed and when I asked him to quicken he picked up the tempo well. He quite enjoyed his work and showed no issues in his breathing.” said Gatt in his post-trial interview.
The 5yo is expected to have another trial in a couple of weeks’ time and then be competitive at the races over 1400m first up. Watch his full trial here.
Warmonger, 3yo gelding with the Price Kent team finished 2nd in is 990m trial. Ridden by Beau Mertens, he commented “He still has a bit to learn, but improved again from his last trial. The blinkers definitely help him.”
Watch his full trial here.
The 3yo is now off to the races and could make his debut on Sunday week at Seymour. A strong showing is expected.
Possibly the watch of the day was the Archie Alexander trained 3yo filly Vivy Air, who had her second trial over 990m. The daughter of Hellbent finished 2nd, beaten one length when showing a strong finish.
“She jumped well and travelled comfortably, she just hit a little bit of a flat spot at the top of the straight. Once she found her feet she went through her gears and was strong to the line. She probably had a little look around more than anything, but she feels like she’s in for a good prep.” commented jockey Tom Stockdale post-trial.
Watch her full trial here.
She’s ready to go to the races now and will be very competitive.
Also in the trial was Price/Kent trained Big Story, who had his first trial back and finished 5th. He will have another trial in two weeks and will head to the races afterwards.
The last trial of the day over 1550m included the Clayton Douglas trained Harmysian. Ridden by Jake Noonan, he finished 4th beaten 3.6 lengths. “Very happy with him, he’s a lot stronger this time around and will take good improvement from it.” said Noonan after the trial.
Depending on how he pulls up, Harmysian could be off to the races in the next few weeks over 1600m.
A few promising performances from the official trials at Cranbourne and much to look forward to in the next few weeks as we watch horses return to the races.