The DMR trials have become a player-led annual event that seems to get bigger every year. The fact that this event takes part before any of the horses have seen a race is unique and certainly offers a chance to those precocious horses which can often burn out before the end of the year.

When these trials first started, they were an ideal opportunity to showcase future stars and the top finishers often changed hands for large amounts but as the years have gone by, the community has come to realize these trials are not necessarily an indication of racing ability. They have morphed into a special division all of their own.

So, in a way without the expectation that any of the top finishers will be much better than a debut winner it has become unique at HRP as an event that is, what it is, a fun distraction before the serious business of racing. Development and class take over as the slightly slower ones start to get better and those early flyers stop improving but for this day at least they will earn plenty of vouchers and some bragging rights.

Huge thanks from the community must go to Barcelona Farms for organizing this year’s trials, a concept that was born from the Jerry Garcia mind that continued past a “one-off” and has been handed down to the current organizer as a yearly event everyone looks forward to.

Last year’s fastest on the dirt was Cross Traffic from DJC Racing Stables clocking 1.00.02. Not surprisingly he came out pretty early in the season beaten a nose in a big-ticket CD maiden in May and after that trials win was looking pretty good for the veteran trainer. He was switched to the turf for his next two again running a nose second this time in the Tyrol Stakes. There wasn’t much ease in the pressure heaped on him as he took on the Saplin and the KD Juvenile still as a maiden, but the tasks proved too much, and he was returned to maiden company where he finally got his breakthrough win at KEE on his sixth attempt. I thought that win may launch his career but since then he has been disappointing and although he is still working strongly and has clocked up nearly $100.000 in earnings the one win from eleven is a frustrating record.

The second fastest of the year was White Wolf and whilst Cross Traffic has been a little frustrating then this one really has been a conundrum. After a good debut third she went on to easily win a maiden at WO in May and you would’ve expected an early career, but she has only been seen once since when second in a decent allowance at SAR. I can’t imagine why she hasn’t been on the racetrack since last August as she was showing good speed in works and looked promising on the track, but her trainer hasn’t given her a fourth race.

Third fastest last year was Billy Hardcastle who did manage a win on debut but never won again and was deactivated after seven races.

On the turf we saw Free Casino take the vouchers and it was on that surface that he broke his maiden on the third attempt. He was OK in two decent races after that but again, as so often is the case, these DMR trials winners inevitably win their biggest purse on trials day.

So onto this year with a prize pool of 134 vouchers at the time of writing and 1613 entries the interest was as high as always but couldn’t top last years entry total of 2775.

The Top ten on the dirt were:

1 Keewaydin Robeth c. 2 b 59.86
2 Twizt By Force Asgar f. 2 b 59.99
3 Ikko Ikki Jerry Garcia Racing c. 2 b 1:00.00
4 Diplomatic Charm Mb Stables f. 2 b 1:00.05
5 Bilbo Baggins Keikowin Racing g. 2 b 1:00.09
6= Heresy Mb Stables f. 2 b 1:00.14
6= Ranger Quick Arkansas Elite g. 2 b 1:00.14
8= Bold Extract Mb Stables f. 2 b 1:00.22
8= Sweep The Green Langley Farms f. 2 b 1:00.22

Keewaydin from Robeth Stable was the fastest today. An entire by Winter Book out of Good Vibration he stands at 15.1hh and was bought from Fractious Stable for $36.010. He had worked 59.05 handily 11 days ago so looked to be one of the favorites to pick up some vouchers today and his sub 1.00 breeze was good enough. He has quite a routers conformation and that seems to be a trend with these early types over five furlongs as stamina seems to come with maturity and a lot of the sprinting types can’t quite last the five furlongs yet.

In second spot we had Twizt By Force, a bit of a tongue twister but then so was her sire and dam in Forceamalu and Dont Mind If I Twizt. Bred by Asgar and worked by them she is the fastest filly coming under the wire in a shade under 1.00 for the breeze showing nice improvement from her breeze on the track a month ago. Standing at 16 hh she is a monster of an early two year old and with the sort of conformation which gives her plenty of trip options she could turn out to be one of the better trialist’s of recent years.

In third was Jerry Garcia’s Ikko Ikki a colt by Kamikaze out of Expressed Prayers brilliantly named after a Japanese rebellious group of the 15th century tying in nicely with the sire Kanikaze. He breezed through at a minute dead and he too has that nice sort of confirmation that will leave trip options for the trainer. At 15.1hh he will still grow and improve and though his legs may be a bit tender possibly restricting his career longevity I would’ve thought he will find some early success.

On the turf we saw 217 entries, here is the top five:

Disq Midwest Sccj Stables c. 2 h 59.18
1st Witch Of Westwood Barcelona Farms f. 2 b 59.70
2nd Chicken Dinner Arkansas Elite g. 2 b 59.83
Disq Alternate Energy High Voltage f. 2 h 59.84
3rd Crossing D J C Racing Stables g. 2 b 59.89

The quickest was Midwest from Sccj Stable a colt that they bred themselves. He had already broken 1.00 on the dirt but sadly the trainer worked him handily so his time would not go forward for the trails results. That left Witch Of Westwood as the quickest for the turf specialist Barcelona Farms. A filly by Inside Draw out of The Hollywood Witch she went under the wire at 59.70. Standing at 15.1hh her conformation doesn’t scream turf but she has been working a little better on this surface so she may turn out to have a slight preference.

Look out for announcements as to how the prize pool will be divided and well done and thank you to everyone that took part and donated.

Categories: EDITORIAL, FEATURED STORIES, Racing Information