Field Marshal to call the shots

Two of the fancied runners in Saturday's 1,400m sprint for Class 4 horses were sent out for work on the training track yesterday morning and both came through with flying colours.

Afalonhro had Vlad Duric in the saddle when he breezed over the 600m in 35.6sec.

In a separate gallop, Field Marshal clocked 36.4sec for the same trip. Ryan Munger did the steering.

From Ricardo Le Grange's yard, Field Marshal has turned out to be a regular moneyspinner for his owners - the Middle Kingdom Stable.

Since he started racing last July, he has fashioned three wins and a third from just six starts.

The victories came courtesy of a win on debut and a similar show in start No. 2.

The wins were well spaced out - the first in July and the second in September.

A month later, Le Grange found a suitable Class 4 race for his charge and, like a good horse, Field Marshal duly obliged.

Ridden by Ben Thompson, the chestnut was still with the backmarkers after a slow start when they approached the home turn in that 1,200m sprint.

But, with less than 200m out, the battle began.

Siam Royal Orchid charged to the front but was immediately hunted down by Field Marshal.

Head up, head down, they went to the line with Field Marshal getting the verdict by the narrowest of margins.

It was three from three.

Then came a lull in proceedings. He ran unplaced in the Saas Fee Stakes and that was it for the 2019 season.

Field Marshal was back on Jan 12 and again on Feb 7. He made the board both times and a winning trial less than a fortnight ago does seem to suggest he's ripe and ready to put in a command show on Saturday.

Well, Afalonhro will disagree.

He's drawn in the same race and it does spice things up.

From Mark Walker's stables, Afalonhro was a runaway winner on New Year's Day.

Pitted against a hot field of runners all eager to break their maiden status, Afalonhro was a tad slow out of the gates. But, once Duric got him going, he was all over them in a heartbeat.

Taking control of things at the 600m mark, he truly gave them something to chase.

They tried. But they were never going to get within sniffing distance of his swishing tail.

Afalonhro went to the line on cruise control.

His last two runs produced minor money but, come Saturday, he won't be punching above his weight.

Also on Saturday, keep an eye on Luck Of Master, who will be seeking a hat-trick in the Class 3 event over 1,800m.

He did a sparkling workout with stablemate Solo Sun for company in 35.4sec. Solo Sun, who is also fit, is engaged in the same race.