Le Grange duo look the goods

On a dull and drab morning with rain looking likely, two horses from the stables of trainer Ricardo Le Grange brought some sunshine to the trials on Feb 27.

Boardroom won in style, whipping his rivals by more than three lengths over the 1,000m while clocking a really smart time of 59.88sec.

Bestseller did not win, but ran fifth and second last, in a hit-out won by Mr Black Back in 59.95.

So, how can a horse who beat one home catch the eye?

Well, as they say, sometimes to see the forest, you have to look beyond the trees.

Bestseller actually finished smack-up behind the winner, almost going under the minute mark, clocking 1min 00.16sec.

He was clearly putting in his best work over the concluding stages. The way he finished that trial was what made it so impressive.

The Dream Ahead four-year-old ambled out of the chute with Rozlan Nazam having to use plenty of vigour to keep his mount from being too far detached from the pack.

Bestseller seemed game enough to make up for lost ground and, on settling, he found himself locked in second last position and some eight lengths behind as Mr Black Back (Iskandar Rosman), Lord’s Command (Manoel Nunes) and Street Of Dreams (Sazali Ramli) fought out the lead.

Into the home stretch, Bestseller began to make inroads into that leading pack which, by then, had been joined by another Le Grange runner, Rocket Star.

But Rozlan seemed to have an agenda of his own.

He marked time and only went full throttle over the final furlong.

Bestseller closed in fast but, given too much to do when the finish line loomed, he could not reel in the foursome up front.

Still, Le Grange would have been pleased. The run would have also put him near his fighting weight.

After closing off the final quarter of the 2023 season with a three-in-a-row feat, the last one – and sixth hurrah – coming in the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1,700m) on Dec 2, he has had only one start in the current season.

That was in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1,400m) and the result was not flattering. Bestseller finished 10th in a field of 16.

Well, forget that run. Bestseller is better than that and, the next time you see his name on a racecard, you may want to hop on the bandwagon.

As for Boardroom, he left nothing to the imagination. He took the first trial by the scruff of the neck – and seemed happy doing it.

But, that said, his moment in the sun had to wait as there was drama before the “off” when Ima mistook the trial for a rodeo show.

He was stubborn being loaded and, just when the starter thought the field was good to go, Ima reared in his chute and almost got his front hooves over the gate.

Of course, he was quickly backed out of the stall and, just as quickly, deemed a non-starter.

Restless as they were, the runners broke cleanly and Boardroom, with Bruno Queiroz in the saddle, quickly muscled his way to the lead.

Manoel Nunes, on the Richard Lim-trained Grand Supreme, tried to break his momentum by sticking close.

But Boardroom just kept humming along and, when push came to shove at the 300m mark, the Justify three-year-old simply dug in and skipped clear to beat Grand Supreme by 3¼ lengths and in a time of 59.88.

Not much is known of Boardroom, given he raced only once on Feb 11. Carrying plenty of support – they sent him off as the $19 third pick – the grey could only manage a fourth in that race won by Fire.

With that contest out of the way and a winning trial now under his girth, Boardroom could be the real deal at his next start.

Mark him down as a horse to follow.

brian@sph.com.sg