MAKIN GOES LIKE A MACHINE AT TRIALS

Old boy Lonhro Gold and highly rated Mr Black Back also light up overcast morning

- Brian Miller

On an overcast morning, with rain threatening to douse the Kranji racecourse, three horses put daylight between themselves and the rest.

Makin went fastest of the lot. He took the last trial on Feb 15 by a whopping 1212 lengths while returning the fastest time of the morning.

Ridden by Manoel Nunes, Makin stopped the clock at 59.68sec.

And he was not even going full throttle.

One trial earlier, Lonhro Gold did it from pillar to post, winning by eight lengths.

Ridden by Bruno Queiroz, the nine-year-old gave his younger rivals a galloping lesson with an impressive 59.87sec for that 1,000m dash.

The other runaway show came in the second trial. It starred the very talented Mr Black Back who, like the rest, found the front after the get-go and simply got further and further ahead as the trial progressed.

Another one who had the services of Queiroz, Mr Black Back eventually won in an easy 1min 01.25sec.