Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Randwick hosted 19 trials on Friday morning, with the early sessions featuring Group horses. Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) made an impressive return from injury, proving he's still in top form. The track was rated a Good 4 for the morning.
Group horses
Giga Kick, trained by Clayton Douglas, broke smoothly in the 900-metre trial, settling mid-field before gradually gaining ground on the John O'Shea and Tom Charlton-trained 3-year-old Linebacker (NZ) (Super Seth). Under a very quiet ride from jockey James McDonald, Giga Kick pulled ahead to win by 0.75l. Punch Lane (So You Think {NZ}), trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, who had led early in the trial, held on to finish third.
The second trial, also over the 900 metres, was won by Group 1 winner Belclare (NZ) Per Incanto {USA}), ridden by Rachel King for trainer Bjorn Baker. Schwarz (Zoustar) led the group into the straight but faded near the end with Belclare taking the inside line and holding on from the fast-finishing Café Millennium (Not A Single Doubt) with Sunshine In Paris (Invader) running third.
Last start Listed Grafton Cup winner Deny Knowledge (Ire) (Pride of Dubai) won Trial 3 over 1200 metres for jockey Tim Clark and trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman, tracking the leader Jamberoo (Thunder Fire) for most of the run then slowly pulling clear to win by 0.71l.
Big spring ahead for these 3-year-olds
Peter Snowden’s Group 1-placed winner, 3-year-old colt Fearless (Pierata), trialled over 1045 metres in Trial 5. The field cruised out of the gates, quickly spreading out. Fearless sat quietly in third behind the runaway leaders, then sprinted clear to “put them away” winning by 2.7l for jockey Tommy Berry. The trainer/jockey pair combined in the next heat, Trial 6, with 3-year-old colt High Octane (Deep Field) who made it even easier when winning by nearly 6l. He hit the lead early in the 1045-metre trial and pulled away over the course of the event, “The further they go, the further in front High Octane gets.” He won the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts and Geldings) on debut at two and recently ran third in the Listed Rosebud H.
Fearless as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Peter Snowden combined with Kerrin McEvoy to win Trial 9 over 1045 metres with unraced gelding California Bay (Dundeel {NZ}) who sat third for the most part, working nicely down the straight to peg back the leader Chiba (Exceed And Excel) to win by 0.24l. Both 3-year-olds look to have a nice future.
In Trial 14 over 740 metres, unraced 3-year-old colt Power Smash (Brave Smash {Jpn}) jumped the lead and stayed there, holding on well from several strong challenges with four horses crossing the line and the Jim and Greg Lee-trained Power Smash winning by 0.09l from Portfolia (Capitalist).
Power Smash as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Group 3-placed 3-year-old filly Celestial Bling (Capitalist) showed speed in her 740-metre trial (Trial 15), tracking wide and looking a little green for jockey Tim Clark, but sprinted nicely at the end to win by 0.41l from Runjeet (Shalaa {Ire}).
The last three heats at Randwick were abandoned under stewards orders.
