Mr David trials well for Duric
John O'Hara-trained youngster is most impressive of his four trial winners
When you're good, you're good. Just ask the Kranji faithful. They love a winner and, in their eyes, jockey Vlad Duric is their man.
A virtuoso in the saddle, he wins races with metronome precision. And not just on raceday.
Take the trials at Kranji on Tuesday morning, Duric was the man of the moment, winning four of the five contested.
He opened with an all-the-way win on Siam Royal Orchid, followed it up with a fighting win on St Alwyn in the second and made it three off the reel with Mr David in the third.
Silent Partner brought up his fourth but he couldn't "go through the card", when Trapio, his mount in the last trial, only managed fourth spot.
Still, and although they were just trials and not the real thing, his brilliance shone through.
Of the four, I like his partnership with Mr David. Beaten for speed over the first 400m of the 1,000m sprint, Duric seemed content to keep his mount away from the battle up front.
It was only when they straightened for the run home that he called on his mount for an effort. Mr David was up to it. He opened up, stretched himself and, like a good horse, he coasted home.
Mettlesome, who led at the 600m, had no answer to Mr David's finish and he would settle for second spot, 11/4 lengths in arrears. Sahara Eagle was a long third.
Mr David made his debut on Feb 3 but that's a race best forgotten as he finished down the course.
But he has since come a long way. Indeed, if - like some people say - a horse is like an item from Ikea, well, one thing is certain, trainer John O'Hara has with Mr David, assembled all the right pieces into the right places.
Siam Royal Orchid, who got Duric off to his four-bagger, is also one to watch. Just a three-year-old, he was impressive when scoring in a time of 61.97sec.
The run on Tuesday was unlike what we saw of him in his first trial on Jan 8.
That day, when ridden by Glen Boss, he came from midfield to mount a challenge in the stretch, only to take it easy in the run home.
On Tuesday, he was all go. Jumping cleanly, he claimed the lead on settling and never gave the others as much as a look-in. Such was his dominance that Duric opted for a sedan-chair ride over the final 150m and Siam Royal Orchid still won with a ton in hand.
Trained by Michael Clements, the youngster should shape up into a good thing and it could pay handsomely to have him on your shortlist of "newcomers to watch".
On the day, the Clements-Duric partnership sent out another winner in Silent Partner. A four-year-old, Silent Partner didn't do a thing wrong when winning Trial 4.
Holding second spot until the field straightened, Silent Partner hit the front and kept up a brisk gallop to take the trial with some authority.
Sent off as the heavily backed $8 favourite on debut, he didn't have things his way. You could say, he did everything wrong when finishing second to Copacabana over the 1,200m.
Indeed, when questioned, Duric said he felt Silent Partner would do better over a longer trip. Keep that in mind the next time he goes to the races. He's got the form. He just needs things to go his way.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now