A horse who hasn’t raced in more than four years has found his way into Craig Rail’s Blackbook after an impressive trial effort at Melton on Monday.
Adapt hails from the Clayton Tonkin stable and has four starts under his belt, but the most recent of those was in a heat of the Victoria Derby at Ballarat back in January 2020.
“He was extremely impressive in his victory after he pushed forward to find the lead and dashed well clear in the run to the finish,” Rail wrote following Monday’s effort.
Adapt was one of a handful of new Blackbook additions this week, with the updated list of horses to follow at the bottom of the trial report.
TRIAL REPORT
MARYBOROUGH 01/06/24
Trial 1: - PRINCE OF ROCK continued his good trial form with an all of the way victory in the opening trial. He dashed home in a last quarter of 28.4 seconds and seemingly had something in reserve. SEBASTIANS SECRET finished in second after trailing the leader throughout and using the sprint lane. He unfortunately broke stride and lost his chance when unplaced subsequently at Stawell on Thursday. LITTLE YANKEE raced without cover for the majority of the trial and managed to hold down third in front of DOUBLE HELIX, which raced in the one out and one back trail. LITTLE YANKEE was a reserve at Melton tomorrow night but has gained a start with the withdrawal of Suzy’s Dream.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.1 Last Half: - 59.0 Margins: - 4m, 15m
Trial 2: - CAPTAIN MOORE is an unraced juvenile colt by Soho Lanikai, which won the Premiere Stakes at his only start, out of the handy mare Our Chelsea Girl (2.2.4, $45,261). He trailed the leader early, ended up being three back on the markers and commenced his winning move from the quarter pole. STARTIN TO GOGH was without cover early then progressed forward to find the lead at the 1200m mark. He finished second with SOHO MAYWEATHER coming from last of the four runners to pick up third spot. STARTIN TO GOGH will make his debut at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.0 Last Half: - 58.2 Margins: - 2m, 12m
Trial 3: - TERROR EYES NZ was five back on the markers for the majority of the trial, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 600m mark and gained a run through the middle before accelerating nicely in the final 150m to win the prize. He is backing up at Bendigo on Tuesday night. MCARDOM settled in sixth, moved up without cover turning into the back straight on the final occasion before hitting the front with 400m remaining. He hung out on the final turn, presenting TERROR EYES NZ with the run through the middle, but he battled on well for second and is also competing at Bendigo on Tuesday night. WRITTEN IN SILK was behind the leader early and ended up being three back on the markers when ALWAYS SUGAR made a dash to find the lead at the 1100m. She was able to get past ALWAYS SUGAR in the straight to pick up third spot.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.4 Last Half: - 58.9 Margins: - 5m, 8m
Trial 6: - MAC SHADOW began quickly to find the lead and ran along at a genuine tempo. He never appeared to be in any danger of defeat and scored nicely from ROYAL SAXON, which settled five back on the markers and moved up without cover from the 700m. CORNELIA was four back on the inside and finished third ahead of SOHO EMPIRE STATE, which settled down in last position and came out three horses wide from the 600m. SOHO EMPIRE STATE is an unraced juvenile by Soho Lanikai and was taking on older horses so it was a tidy performance.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.8 Last Half: - 58.4 Margins: - 3m, 5m
KYABRAM 02/06/24
Trial 2: - AMANDA SAID SO is a mare by Well Said out of the good mare Amanda Von, which won thirteen races (1.54.4, $121,760). She is yet to face the starter but obviously has a lot of ability considering she recorded a mile rate of 2.1.6, which is a very good run at Kyabram and she defeated the twelve times race winner in ACE MONTANA by a large margin. UPRIGHT was last of the three runners across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.6 Last Half: - 57.8 Margins: - 50m, 100m
BLACKBOOKER: - Amanda Said So
CRANBOURNE 02/06/24
Trial 1: - RAKAJED NZ began quickly and rolled straight to the front. He ran along at an even tempo and was able to hold off the late challenge of DENIS WILLIAM to score by a neck. DENIS WILLIAM settled down last of the four runners before making his move at the 400m mark. He picked up ground and finished ahead of OH NO NEVER AGAIN (trailed leader) and LADY BLOOMFIELD (3 back markers). OH NO NEVER AGAIN will be competing at Warragul on Monday.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.9 Last Half: - 58.1 Margins: - Neck, 5m
MILDURA 03/06/24
Trial 1: - TOUGH AINT ENOUGH is an unraced gelding by Sportswriter out of Count The Aces (2.0.7, $19,415) for trainer Andrew Stenhouse. He was four back on the markers, moved up without cover at the 1000m, dropped back to third coming out of the back straight and picked up nicely through the middle to win the trial over THE WAITING, which attempted to lead all of the way. MAGIC MATTY finished in third after settling in fifth, moving into the one out and one back trail at the 900m and getting past TOUGH AINT ENOUGH before peaking a little late. He makes his debut at Mildura this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.5.2 Last Half: - 58.7 Margins: - 2m, 3m
Trial 2: - OUR ART WORK trailed the leader throughout and finished off best to win nicely in handy time. POWERSOFPERSUASION settled four back on the markers before coming to the outside at the 600m mark. He finished off well for second with DIAMOND BIKINI doing a good job to hold down third after pulling hard in the leading role and establishing a big lead in the early stages.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.1 Last Half: - 59.5 Margins: - .5m, .5m
BENDIGO 03/06/24
Trial 1: - VINCE LOMBARDI NZ backed up his impressive trial performance a week earlier with a slashing display to score in a slick mile rate of 1.56.6. He settled down last of the four runners, came out three horses wide from the 400m mark and sprinted quickly to win well. He makes his debut at Bendigo on Tuesday night and should prove very hard to beat. OZZIE CORKA finished in second after setting up a fast speed and MANFREDI (3 back markers) ran into a distant third. KEISHA raced fiercely behind the leader and was the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 1.56.6 Last Half: - 58.5 Margins: - 3m, 22m
Trial 3: - OZZIE PUNTA was without cover in the early stages, progressed forward to find the lead and recorded a comfortable victory in handy time. NAI HARN BAY settled three back on the inside, pulled hard, and finished off well for second via the sprint lane. He is backing up at Bendigo on Tuesday night. SLICE OF CHEDDAR ran an eye-catching third after settling last of the six runners and finishing off stylishly out wide on the track. STARZINHEREYES led out then took cover and moved to the outside of the leader with 600m remaining. She was the fourth horse across the line and backed up with a third placed effort at Stawell on Thursday.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.9 Last Half: - 58.1 Margins: - 7m, 3m
MELTON ENTERTAINMENT PARK 03/06/24
Trial 1: - DALEY WATERS is now with trainer Chris Svanosio and has been quite impressive at the trials. He settled three back on the markers, moved to the outside at the 600m mark and won effortlessly from ALDEBARAN MARCUS, which trailed behind the leader IBERIAN and came to the outside on the home turn. EXALTED finished in third position after galloping away from the standing start and losing valuable ground. She did well to finish as close as she did and IBERIAN ended up being last of the four runners across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.6.1 Last Half: - 59.54 Margins: - 12m, 17m
BLACKBOOKER: - Daley Waters
Trial 2: - MACH MAJOR NZ continued his good trial form with a success over CHAPPY STREETNORTH. He settled in sixth position, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 800m, ended up being 1-2 and produced a big finish in a slick last quarter of 28.15 seconds to gain the prize. CHAPPY STREETNORTH attempted to lead all of the way and finished second from UBETTA KNOT, which raced in the trail throughout. UBETTA KNOT will be competing at Warragul on Monday afternoon.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.6 Last Half: - 56.85 Margins: - Neck, 1.5m
Trial 3: - SON OF MAC NZ was without cover early, restrained to be four back on the markers then moved up without cover again at the 800m mark. He sustained a strong run and recorded a last quarter of 27.41 seconds to score convincingly. LAST OF THE MOHICANS NZ is a former New Zealand pacer, which has been racing well in Tasmania. He has joined trainer Conor Crook and produced a tidy performance to finish in second after settling three back on the markers and moving into the one out and one back trail from the 600m. HITTHEROADJACK NZ was third after trailing behind the leader ISLAND FIRE DANCE and VEE EM GEE MACRAY was fourth after setting last of the five runners and finding the line nicely without being extended. HITTHEROADJACK NZ is scheduled to compete at Melton tomorrow night.
Mile Rate: - 1.58.3 Last Half: - 56.21 Margins: - 4m, 6m
Trial 4: - BULLETPROOF BOY prepared for his performance at Melton tomorrow night with an all of the way victory. He showed very good gate speed early and also showed a lot of dash late as he zipped home in a last quarter of 27.52 seconds. BACH NZ came from last of the three runners and produced very handy sectionals to finish in second. SANDAY trailed the leader and held his own in the straight to finish in third.
Mile Rate: - 1.57.8 Last Half: - 55.11 Margins: - 3.5m, ½ head
Trial 5: - ADAPT hasn’t raced since being unplaced in a heat of the Victoria Derby in January 2020! He was extremely impressive in his victory after he pushed forward to find the lead and dashed well clear in the run to the finish. PISTOL QUEEN led out then took cover and finished second with STRAWBERRY BLING being in third after being three back on the markers throughout. STRAWBERRY BLING has recently returned from Tasmania and will be competing at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.9 Last Half: - 56.42 Margins: - 15.5m, 5m
BLACKBOOKER: - Adapt
Trial 6: - KYVALLEY PICASSO NZ settled three back on the inside and made his move at the 500m mark. He was able to get home best to win from PROMISE DREAM, which is an unraced filly by Lucky Chucky for trainer Chris Svanosio. She was five back on the markers, followed behind KYVALLEY PICASSO NZ from the quarter pole and never peeled to the outside at any stage, going to the line hard held. She is worth following on that performance. AARDIES PEAK NZ is also a horse that needs to be watched in the future. She raced very fiercely early, pushed forward to pressure the leader and set up a fast tempo, found the lead at the 900m but broke stride shortly afterwards. She then picked up good ground before holding her own late and finishing in third.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.8 Last Half: - 63.17 Margins: - 4.5m, 5.5m
BLACKBOOKER: - Promise Dream
Trial 7: - FOX DAN settled in the running lane (1-2), came out three horses wide from the 400m mark and finished off strongly to score from GALAXY LASS, which settled seventh on the markers and ran home well out wide on the track late. LOCHINVAR CAMILA worked to the front in the early stages and raced a little greenly but managed to hold down third from STITCHED UP DAN, which made up a lot of ground from ninth in the straight. STITCHED UP DAN makes her debut at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.5 Last Half: - 58.14 Margins: - 2m, ½ neck
Trial 9: - ROCKINWITHATTITUDE settled last of the three runners, pushed through to trail the leader on the home turn and showed terrific acceleration via the sprint lane to win impressively. It was a good hit-out for her first up performance in the Carlotta’s Pride FFA at Melton tomorrow night. I AM PEGASUS finished second after trying to lead throughout and ALDEBARAN KEEPA NZ (behind leader) was the last horse to cross the line. Each of the three runners in this trial will be competing at Melton tomorrow evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.9 Last Half: - 57.88 Margins: - 5.5m, Neck
Trial 10: - ROCKIN BULL is an unraced colt by A Rocknroll Dance for trainer Andy Gath. He showed very good gate speed to lead and was able to win comfortably in the run to the finish. TENACIOUSLY settled four back on the markers and picked up ground for second just ahead of PERFECT STRANGER NZ, which was three back on the inside throughout. NORMY came from last and picked up a lot of ground in the final 100m to finish in fourth position.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.7 Last Half: - 57.16 Margins: - 8m, ½ head
