3 minute read
Just the sole meeting in Singapore over the weekend with the Cliff Brown trained Hardcore one of the standout performances.
Lining up in the second event, Hardcore simply proved a class above when dominant over the mile.
While failing to fire a shot first up, Cliff Brown notified stewards that they would endeavour to ride him quieter, a ploy which certainly paid dividends.
Ridden by Michael Rodd, Hardcore settled in the back half of the field, enjoying the solid tempo set by the Shane Baertschiger trained Catch The Tiger.
Sticking to the rail like glue, Hardcore made up a stack of ground between the 600m and the 400m, slicing his way between runners.
Taking over inside the 300m, he quickly put the race to bed, racing away to score by 4.8L.
Still wanting to do a bit wrong, he is quite the raw product and certainly looks to have more to come.
Lining up at just his fourth start, he returned a clear new career peak and is trending the right way.
Some question marks on what he beat, however no question marks on the time he ran.
Of the six races held on the turf track, comparatively only the Lee Freedman trained Sun Marshal ran faster time.
Also worth noting he ran close to 14L faster than the other mile race held on the night, won by the Saimee trained Red Riding Wood.
From a ratings perspective, Friday's performance was a big spike, though given he is only lightly raced, confident he can go on with it.
Given the way he finished off over the mile, it all suggests he could be better over further and looks to have a very bright future.
Likely to be seen in Class 4 company at his next start, he appears more than capable of making that jump and should prove very hard to beat.
Off a rating of just 56, he looks to be given every chance by the handicapper and is definitely one to follow.