Racing: Topliners on display at Trentham

Stephen McKee's Passing Shot deserved his juvenile win. Photo / Thinkstock

That was great racing at Trentham on Saturday.

Not one sub-standard field carded and the racing reflected that.

Mercifully, the weathercasters were again wrong (really) because rain would have devastated what will be remembered as one of the full-programmed highlights of the season.

What it particularly threw up is that we have loads of good horses coming through to develop into next season's topliners.

Altuis, Passing Shot, Kawi, Neena Rock, Popeye Braggins and Media World are all about to make real names for themselves.

And they were just the winners. Graham Richardson's St Leger pair Full Monty and Dubai Shuffle have staying futures and fillies Moozoon, Miss Selby and Chop Chop are likely to charge into next season's headlines.

Altuis has been patiently handled by Tony Cole and big dividends loom for that later in the year. Although you can sometimes be fooled by this, he looks a lanky, spare type of horse who should fill out and become stronger.

Stephen McKee's Passing Shot deserved his juvenile win. He hadn't previously run a place in four starts, but he'd never enjoyed luck.

Luck was this time taken out of the equation when he led from the No 1 barrier and never looked like surrendering.

Albert Bosma's Go Racing syndication won the first two Trentham races with Sadlers Rock and Passing Shot.

Like a lot of the stock of Fastnet Rock, Neena Rock keeps getting better with racing. There was plenty of authority about the way she put away the Cuddle Stakes opposition. Taranaki's Warren Bolton bought Neena Rock for significantly less than $100,000 as a yearling in Australia and now has a filly of enormous value.

The track was well short of the yielding conditions Popeye Braggins prefers and his victory was stylish. He can find the line fast when he gets conditions to suit and he will be in the best classes before you know it.