Golden Brown is cherry-ripe

Golden Brown came oh so close to scoring two on the trot, but Grand Avante had to spoil the party.

Just a head separated the Gold Stable-owned galloper from Daniel Meagher’s winner in that Class 4 1,200m race on Sept 9.

Then again, one could say Golden Brown brought it upon himself.

He messed things up at the start and, on settling, was 10th in that field of 12.

After something like that, few horses can make up a heap of ground and come back into the reckoning.

But Golden Brown did just that.

Under a vigorous ride from Bruno Queiroz, the Supido four-year-old charged home but it was too little, too late.

Grand Avante, under an even more vigorous ride by Marc Lerner, hit the front when it mattered to prevail by that narrow margin.

Those antics at the start meant that Golden Brown had to pass a starting stalls test before being allowed to race again.

Well, that is now water under the bridge.

Trainer Tim Fitzsimmons sent his larrikin to the trials on Tuesday morning and, with Lerner on the reins, Golden Brown passed his test with flying colours.

Not only was the four-year-old an obedient boy behind the gates, in the gates and out of it, he also came home with big, bounding strides to put his rivals to the sword.

As for his time for the 1,000m, Fitzsimmons will not be writing home about it.

After all, Golden Brown clocked an ordinary time of 1min 02.29sec.

But it was still mission accomplished. Golden Brown can now get back to the serious stuff of racing and the Yongs of Gold Stable can prepare for another walk to the winner’s circle.

Yes, Golden Brown is only just beginning.

The youngster has had four runs for a win and two seconds and, if he brings his good manners to the races, there could be more victories in the offing.

Also securing a passing mark in his starting stalls test was Ace Of Diamonds.

Ridden by Queiroz, he made a clean breakaway and led the field until challenged at the 250m by Bureaucrat and Golden Brown.

But his work had been done and Queiroz kept him out of that fight for honours.

He eventually took third spot but Ricardo Le Grange would have been satisfied and pleased with his three-year-old.

Another son of Swiss Ace, Ace Of Diamonds has only just begun his Kranji campaign.

His last-start victory on Sept 23 was impressive.

He whipped his rivals by more than three lengths over the sprint trip of 1,200m and he is far from done.

More wins are in store and it could pay handsomely if you join his fan club.

In that same opening trial, new boy Combustion turned in a nice performance.

Always involved with the leading pack, he was not asked to do more than what was necessary and A’Isisuhairi Kasim eventually eased him out of that battle for honours.

Combustion went on to take fifth spot, clocking 1:02.82 in his first competitive show at Kranji.

Now under the care of trainer Mahadi Taib, Combustion, who raced formerly as I’m On Fire, arrived winless after racing eight times in New Zealand.

But he did run second twice. He played bridesmaid on Nov 30, 2022, in a 1,560m race at Arawa Park and, at his last start before being flown out here, he again had to settle for second at Pukekohe Park.

This new boy may not spontaneously combust at Kranji but, given time, he could ignite and, in the process, burn bright.

In the other trial on Tuesday morning, Taling Pling beat his rivals out of sight, taking the hit-out by almost four lengths in 1:01.42.

Formerly with Michael Clements but now under the care of Le Grange, Taling Pling took the lead passing the 600m and never gave it back.

He posted his first Kranji win as a three-year-old on Jan 7, then went off the boil.

Since taking over training duties, Le Grange has sent his charge to two trials. He finished third on Oct 10 but showed vast improvement on Tuesday.

Keep him on your radar. He is better than his form figures suggest.

brian@sph.com.sg