Habib in command in both trial rides

Newly licenced jockey Calvin Habib had his first feel of the morning trials at Kranji on Thursday morning, when he took out Pennywise in the third of five heats.

And, as it turned out, it was a great way to start his stint, as Pennywise led from pillar to post over the short and sharp 1,000m trip on the Polytrack.

In quick succession, the 25-year-old from South Africa then made it two from two when Great Command gave him an armchair ride to take the fourth.

It was another all-the-way affair and Habib would have had a positive report for trainer Ricardo Le Grange.

Indeed, the connections of Great Command would have liked what they saw of the four-year-old who was having a practice trial.

Drawn widest in a field of six, Great Command cleared the chute in style.

On settling, the gelding had established a two-length break on the chasing pack, led by Eight Ball, the mount of Matthew Kellady.

Striding out freely, he allowed Habib a touristy view of the track and its surroundings.

Six hundred metres out and the pair were three lengths clear. Thereafter, Great Command gave his jockey a sedan-chair ride to the finish.

Untouched by the persuader and never asked to do more than what was necessary, he comfortably beat Eight Ball by 5 3/4 lengths in an impressive 59.65sec.

Green Star, ridden by Ronnie Stewart, was third.

From what we saw, Great Command certainly seems to be coming along nicely.

It was also obvious that Le Grange has been nursing along with the 2023 season in mind.

Until that last-start victory on Jan 14, he had raced seven times, going back to August, 2022.

That last win was deserving and it was done in good fashion.

Ridden by the stable’s budding apprentice Rozlan Nazam, Great Command led from the get-go and never once looked like he was going to surrender that lead.

It was a classy show and it came with a promise of more to come.

As for Pennywise, it was another all-the-way affair.

But Pennywise had to fight for the win and eventually held off Ejaz (Manoel Nunes) to prevail by a length.

However, unlike Great Command, Pennywise did not breach the 60sec barrier, clocking 1min 01.79sec for the journey.

Also impressive at the trials was the Shane Baertschiger-trained Alexander.

Ridden by Mohd Zaki, Alexander camped on the back heels of front runner Ahone, the mount of Zyrul Nor Azman.

The five-year-old made a forward move at the 300m mark and stole the lead with a furlong to travel.

He eventually held off Coffee KIng by half a length. His time for the 1,000m was 1min 00.30sec.

Alexander is a one-time winner from 22 starts but is comfortable in Class 5 and could be something to reckon with at his next outing.