Gariza glows in the morning light

It was not the first time he had won a trial. We saw him do it in early May, beating Barnato and looking like he was enjoying himself.

Well, GARIZA - who was having a starting stalls test - was at it again on Tuesday morning, winning his trial with what seemed like unparalleled impudence.

Ridden by Barend Vorster and jumping from an outside gate, Gariza - who can be quite a larrikin at the start - got away cleanly but Vorster chose to keep him in deep midfield.

There he stayed until the 600m mark when, given rein, he moved up to be on the withers of the frontrunner Stay With Me who had made a forward move at the top of the bend.

Gariza seemed happy to stay second but, with 250m to travel, Vorster asked him for an effort.

He responded and, while on a short rein, he drew alongside then drew clear of Power Warrior who had then taken over the role of challenger from the fast-tiring Stay With Me.

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With Vorster being accorded a sedan-chair ride, Gariza coasted home by three lengths from Power Warrior and River Fortune who came home from fifth to take third.

Gariza clocked a highly commendable 60.36sec for the 1,000m.

An Argentinian-bred, who is prepared for the Al-Arabiya Stable by Ricardo Le Grange, Gariza looks to be an above-average sort of runner.

To date, he has had just three race starts - and four trials - for a second and a fourth.

I particularly liked that runner-up show on May 21.

Being to the races just once before, he charged home from a deep midfield spot to earn a sizeable cheque for running a smack-up second to Eclipse Splash.

That race was over the 1,200m on the long course and Gariza clocked 1:11.0sec for the trip.

With natural progression, that first win could come as early as in his next start.

Don't miss out when it happens.

I also liked the ease at which LUCKY GIANT won his trial on Tuesday.

Ridden by "Harry" Kasim, the ZL Mok-trained runner just dipped under the one-minute mark when beating Iron Man and El Condor.

However, and in fairness, he was eased up in the concluding stages when the competition seemed to whittle away.

Incidentally, Tuesday's triumph was his third win in as many trials.

Sparingly raced, Lucky Giant has been entered for the Class 4 sprint (Race 10) on Monday.

It'll be his first race start in 2017 and, in a fairly open contest, he should be thereabouts among the leaders when push comes to shove.