Fitzsimmons' Hero is amazing

Tim Fitzsimmons has got a Hero in his yard. He is not the Superman kind, with flowing cape and red trunks.

His preferred outfit is red silk shirt and blue cap. And while he does not leap over tall buildings in a single bound, he is a pretty mean miler on the racetrack.

Hero has still to demonstrate super-equine qualities – but he is getting there.

The son of Warrior’s Reward was a good winner at the trials on Tuesday morning and, if he can bring that form to the races, he could be super, indeed.

Hero had Manoel Nunes doing the navigating in that 1,000m hit-out and the Brazilian jockey would have had nothing but praise for the way Hero handled himself.

Carrying the No. 1 saddlecloth in the last of five trials, Hero was parked fourth on settling and improved to third when the field fanned out for that run home.

Nunes was never bothered that Victorem (Mohd Zaki) and Broadway Success (apprentice Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) were battling for the lead.

He just kept Hero interested as he warmed the saddle from his vantage point in third spot.

It was the second time that Nunes was riding Hero in a trial. But this latest one would have seemed so different.

In that earlier trial a fortnight ago, Hero was no hero. He plodded along, finishing last of seven runners and some eight lengths behind the winner, Longhu.

Yet, there he was on Tuesday morning, ears pricked and eager to get on with the job.

Nunes continued to keep him in check until the furlong mark.

Then, and as if he was releasing the handbrake on a souped-up roadster, he sent Hero after the leaders.

Just like that, it was job done.

Hero hit the front at the 150m mark and then pulled away to win by 13/4 lengths.

Broadway Success slotted in second, with Victorem a long way back in third.

Hero had arrived at Kranji in late November 2020 after having run in three races in Australia, where he finished second on one occasion.

That was in a 1,600m race at Swan Hill in Victoria.

He had his first start last July and, two starts later, he opened his Kranji account.

That was over the mile and he won it with a sustained run from way back in the field.

Rizuan Shafiq had taken over riding duties from Danny Beasley and Hero would have given him a good feel when winning by half a length.

However, the next time Hero goes to the races, just have a punt on him – never mind who is in the driver’s seat.

If Nunes felt good winning on Hero, it must have felt even better when he steered Dixit Dominus to take the first trial of the morning.

In months and years gone by, we have seen horses score easy wins on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when trials are run.

But few – if any – would have been easier than the winning run by Dixit Dominus.

The three-year-old from Michael Clements’ yard simply broke the hearts of his rivals.

Sent to the front soon after the jump-out, he was seven lengths clear at the 600m mark.

Into the straight and he began to pull away even more.

Indeed, with 250m to go, he had built up such a commanding lead that the other runners would have needed a pair of binoculars to catch sight and keep track of that fast-fading figure of Nunes on Dixit Dominus.

For the record, Dixit Dominus went on to win by 201/2 lengths and he ran the 1,000m in a not-too-shabby 60.69sec – easing up.

The three-year-old had an inauspicious debut, finishing fifth to Dancing Light on Jan 8.

That was then. Now is now. And right now, you do not need to understand Latin to know that Dixit Dominus is in a good place.

Wait for him to have his second race start.