Thunder rumbles at trials

It was a hot and balmy morning. There was bright sunshine which made one want to stay in the shade and it was scorching enough that it drew sweat from horses and riders.

Those at trackside hoped it would get cooler. So it was ironic that Thunder would rumble around 9.45am on Tuesday morning.

Alas, it did not bring a change to the sticky conditions.

Thunder the racehorse won that second trial rather nicely but he, too, was not a miracle worker and the weather remained the same.

Back to that eight-horse trial and the “rumbling” began when Bruno Queiroz got Thunder to clear the gates cleanly.

However, horse and rider chose not to roar. Instead, Queiroz settled his mount third from last and, when the field hit the 600m, the pair were last of the lot – and, seemingly, uninterested in the battle up front where stablemates Nimbus Star and Nimbus Flare were engaged in a personal duel.

War Pride, with Manoel Nunes astride, watched with interest from his spot in third place.

Straightening up for the run home, Queiroz put his mount in the firing line and, with a furlong to travel, Thunder finally roared.

Gaining on the leaders, he had the lead 100m out and also had enough in the tank to stave off the challenge from a late-finishing Leatherhead, the mount of Vlad Duric.

Thunder, who won the trial by 1¼ lengths, clocked 1min 01.60sec for the 1,000m trip.

It was not something his trainer Tim Fitzsimmons would want to write home about.

But there was clear intent in that victory and it could carry the seven-year-old towards a big showing at his next start.

To recap, it was at his 50th race start on Sept 16 that Thunder finished third behind Red Dragon in a race over 1,700m.

That day, when he was looking at a race-to-race double, things did not work out for him.

Indeed, he encountered traffic problems and was hampered close home.

Queiroz tossed in an objection against the first two.

Alas, it was tossed out by the racing stewards and the results stood.

Although getting long in the tooth, Thunder still has plenty of racing left in those legs of his.

And it could pay to be in his corner at his next couple of runs.

The same can be said for Leatherhead.

Dropped into Class 4 in October 2022, he was expected to throw in some punches.

But the best he could manage was a second to Tigarous in a race over 1,800m the following month.

Leatherhead is now in Class 5.

It could be where the eight-year-old should be and, if his hide is as thick as his name, he might give his younger rivals plenty to think about at his next few starts.

Another good looker at the trials was Asif.

The 71-rater took out the final hit-out of the morning, beating the fast-finishing and higher-rated Renzo (77 points) by a nose while leaving Bransom stuck in third spot, three parts of a length adrift.

Ridden by Nunes, Asif stayed on the withers of Bransom for most of the race and took over the lead with 200m left to travel.

If he thought he had it all neatly sewn up, he was mistaken.

In the shades of the winning post, Duric sent Renzo into overdrive.

In a heads up-heads down duel to the line, Asif prevailed by a nostril.

Owned by the Al-Arabiya Stable, Asif went under the hammer for $121,000 as a two-year-old.

He is proving to be a good investment as his three starts here have already yielded in excess of $43,000.

Formerly prepared by Michael Clements and now under the care of Steven Burridge, Asif is a work in progress and we should see him winning more races.

Similarly with Renzo, when he next goes to the races, the five-year-old will be shooting for three wins in a row. It might turn out to be a costly mistake should you choose to oppose him.

Trainer Ricardo Le Grange has him in a good place right now. A seventh win, which will push his earnings above $300,000, is a realistic goal.

brian@sph.com.sg