Strike Gold can do better

On the strength of Strike Gold running and winning a good trial on Sept 7, eagle-eyed racegoers packed him off as joint favourite in his last race on Sept 30.

Minutes later, some must have been wiping tears from those eyes when Strike Gold beat just one home in that 1,200m contest on turf.

Well, if you were one of those whose wallets felt lighter on the way home from Kranji, do not lose hope just yet.

Just roll with the punches and keep faith with the Ricardo Le Grange-trained youngster. He is bound to make amends.

And here is something that should raise your morale.

Strike Gold was again at the trials on Tuesday morning and, although he finished second to newcomer Aniki, he was the one who came away with flying colours.

Here is how it all panned out.

Strike Gold gave the handlers a hard time before he finally allowed himself to be loaded into an outside gate.

That done, the field broke in a clean line and Ronnie Stewart settled Strike Gold near the rear, with only Elite Jubilation (Bernardo Pinheiro) behind him.

When the field cleared the 600m, Strike Gold was still cantering along, oblivious to the speed upfront.

In the saddle, Stewart began to work on him and, when they straightened for the run home, he was widest of the lot and stretching out nicely.

Less than a furlong to go, and he grew wings.

Taking the bit, Strike Gold went after Aniki.

But the newcomer, with Vlad Duric aboard, had too big a lead and could not be reeled in.

Still, Strike Gold was going best of the rest and he finished just a length behind the winner, who clocked a more than decent time of 1min 0.75sec for the 1,000m trip.

Le Grange would have been pleased with the effort put in by the colt who, on July 15, ran his rivals ragged when winning on debut.

That was over the 1,200m on grass.

For the record, Le Grange’s two other runners in the trial – Taling Pling and Elite Jubilation – finished third and fourth.

A son of Iffraaj, Strike Gold has been entered for Saturday’s $75,000 Novice sprint over 1,200m on turf.

That is Race 9 in the 12-event line-up for the day and, if he gets a trouble-free passage, he could be something else.

What about the trial winner Aniki? It was his first showing in a competitive setting at Kranji and he did well.

Trained by Alwin Tan, he took the lead at the top of the straight and held on well to keep Strike Gold at bay.

Yet to make his Kranji debut, Aniki knows the ropes.

Before being flown out here, he raced 10 times in Australia – but failed to register a win.

However, he did finish second and third at his last two attempts Down Under when racing as Surreal Leo.

It was on April 4 that he took second spot in a 1,200m race at Kembla Grange in New South Wales and, a week later on April 13, he ran third over 1,100m at Hawkesbury.

He arrived at Kranji with a rating of 58 points.

In the third and final trial of the morning, Fortune Wheel made the rest eat his dust when leading from start to finish.

Another one of Stewart’s rides on Tuesday morning, Fortune Wheel covered the trip in 1:00.44.

From trainer Richard Lim’s yard, Fortune Wheel beat the Jason Ong-trained Speedy Buck (Bruno Queiroz) by 1 3/4 lengths, with Mahadi Taib’s Mongol Warrior (Zyrul Nor Azman) taking third, a similar margin adrift.

A son of Exceed And Excel, Fortune Wheel took his time to settle in and posted his first and only Kranji win when beating a Class 4 field on May 6.

Right now, with his rating of 52, he is on the precipice and staring at Class 5.

Should he find himself there, he could be all-conquering. Keep an eye on him then.

brian@sph.com.sg