Safeer sounds out a warning

Last time out, in the Raffles Cup, Safeer almost claimed the prize. The finish was tight and the judges called for a print.

Three horses were involved. Safeer, Makanani and Mr Clint.

It was touch and go and, when the numbers were semaphored, Safeer - sandwiched beteen the other two - had to settle for third.

A shorthead separated the three.

While it was a blow to his connections, trainer Michael Clements has knuckled down and got to work, getting Safeer ready for his next assignment.

And part of that work, we believe, involved sending him to the trials on Tuesday morning.

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So it was, in a six-horse shoot-out over the 1,000m, Safeer stalked the pace all the way until the 250m mark.

Sensing the others in front of him were there for the taking, jockey Daniel Moor sent Safeer into overdrive.

He seemed to relish the idea and, like a good horse, he took off, grabbed the lead and held on for a win.

Stablemate Implement took second while the Shane Baertschiger-trained Nepean settled for third.

The winning distance was a shorthead and the time for the 1,000m was a not-too-shabby 60.97sec.

A five-year-old by Savabeel, Safeer has raced 23 times and although his last win was in a Class 3 affair over the 1,200m, he has since been running some good races against the "big boys".

In mid-August, he ran third to Grand Koonta over the 1,200m on grass and, three weeks later, he again took third spot, that time in a race won by Augustano.

It set him up nicely for the Group 1 Raffles Cup where, we now know, he took third in that photo-finish.

Safeer, who races in the blue-and-white silks of the Al-Arabiya Stable, is the sort who thrives on racing and he looks good enough to pick up another victory real soon.

Have him on your shortlist of horses to follow.

It has been a long wait between drinks for the connections of Born To Be King.

But trainer Baertschiger has been slowly - but surely - trimming off the fat and we could very soon be seeing a rejuvenated runner face the starter.

Born To Be King was also at the trials on Tuesday morning and, while he didn't break any land-speed records, he did put together a pretty decent gallop, winning his trial in 63.11sec.

Here's how it stacks up for Born To Be King.

After winning at his second race start in January last year and, after pulling off another victory some seven months later, Born To Be King seems to have "abdicated".

He hasn't been in the winner's circle since that fighting win in August last year but, in his defence, he has only been to the races five times this year.

It could pay to keep an eye on him.