Dream Alliance in fine fettle

It was at the trials on Thursday morning when the dream team came out to play – Lim’s Kosciuszko, Golden Monkey, Relentless and the gang.

And, as we have come to expect, Lim’s Kosciuszko ruled the roost, coming from a handy spot to claim yet another “win”.

Ridden by Marc Lerner, he hit the front close home to consign tearaway leader Fame Star to second spot with Dream Alliance rushing in to claim third.

Golden Monkey finished sixth while Relentless took fourth. But in their defence, they were never really asked to go a-gallop.

Vlad Duric just gave Golden Monkey a good stretch-out which he seemed to enjoy, and so did Ronnie Stewart on Relentless.

Sure, “Kosi” got all the oohs and aahs. That is what the star of the show normally receives and it was well deserved.

What it told us – as if we did not already know – is that Lim’s Kosciuszko is well on track for a tilt at the $1 million Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) on Nov 11. He is in form and he is all juiced up.

However, if there was something else to take note from that same trial, it was the run put in by third-placed Dream Alliance, who is also entered in the Gold Cup.

Ridden by Bruno Queiroz and jumping from the middle of the line, Dream Alliance looked cosy in his spot just off the pace set by Fame Star, Lim’s Kosciuszko and Circuit Mission.

There he stayed until the field began that run to the line.

With all eyes on “Kosi”, Dream Alliance was peeled to the extreme outside where he put on wings over the final 100m to land himself in third spot.

Prepared by Tim Fitzsimmons, the Into Mischief five-year-old is already a five-time winner.

When racing off a mark of 77, he won his last start in fine style, coming from some way back to post a 1½ length win over multiple-winner Super Salute.

While 1,400m is his pet trip, Dream Alliance should be effective over further.

In a later trial, another Gold Cup hopeful, Saint Tropez, caught the eye when beating Hard Too Think by a ½-length.

The Not A Single Doubt five-year-old clocked 1min 00.33sec for the 1,000m.

City Gold Star was also doing his best work late and, with Manoel Nunes entrusted with riding duties, he took third.

Saint Tropez had the services of Stewart, who was content to keep his mount parked in third spot before fashioning a run at the 100m mark.

Given rein, Saint Tropez relished the freedom and scooted away to a nice and easy win.

Trained by Shane Baertschiger, Saint Tropez put his second win on the board when taking out a 1,700m on Sept 9.

Currently racing off a rating of 76, Saint Tropez sits borderline on the Gold Cup order of entries.

Should he get the nod, it would be his biggest assignment yet and you can bet he will throw in a big show.

Another one who helped light up Thursday morning was Red Dot.

Ridden by Clyde Leck in the fourth trial, he took a page out of the “Hongkong Great” playbook and did a thing on his rivals – much like what we saw in the recent Queen Elizabeth II Cup when Hongkong Great won with catch-me-if-you-can tactics.

Likewise, Red Dot was out of the chute like a bullet from a shotgun. He took the lead on settling and, as the sprint progressed, he went further and further ahead.

The rest, most notably Cosmic Dancer (Jerlyn Seow) and Lord’s Command (Nunes), tried to keep in touch but the gap just kept getting wider.

Red Dot had an eight-length buffer when they negotiated the 600m marker. While the talented Lord’s Command attempted to reel him over the final furlong, he had enough in the tank to prevail by more than two lengths.

Recently transferred from Desmond Koh to David Kok, Red Dot clocked a neat 59.74sec for the trip. It was the fastest time of the morning.

To date, Red Dot has been flying under the radar. He won on debut on June 17 when he nosed out Teardrops over the 1,200m on the Polytrack.

At his second start on July 8, the Irish-bred gelding had to settle for fourth spot in that 1,400m race won by Cavalry.

While the Dandy Man five-year-old has not quite lived up to his Irish record of two wins, he deserves to be watched at his next start.

He could be something else.

brian@sph.com.sg