News

TALK ABOUT A FLASH TRIAL!

14th Jan 2016

G1X - by Trent Masenhelder - Thursday 14 January 2015

Admittedly there were only four runners in the field but, even so, it’s not often you see a horse win a trial by close to 12 lengths.

Bede Murray’s Flash Fibian (pictured as a yearling) did just that at Kembla Grange on Wednesday, the two-year-old son of Ready’s Image from former smart mare Langfibian (by Langfuhr), winning the 800m trial by 11.8 lengths in 0:46.74 on a Good 3 surface.

Not surprisingly, Murray has a high opinion of the gelding, who has officially had just the one start, a fifth-placed finish behind speedy filly Miss Amajardan in the Victory Vein Plate (1000m) at Randwick last October.

“He had two runs early in the season… he had one testicle that hadn’t come down and he was pretty wayward," Murray said. "He showed nice promise. They barred him at his second run. We gelded him and it’s made all the difference.

“[The margin of his trial win] Certainly did [surprise me] and he ran time as well. When you have a four-horse trial, you don’t take too much out of it, but he really put the time on the board. He’s a very nice horse, always was a very nice horse.”

The Group 1-winning trainer is eyeing up the $250,000 Inglis Classic (1200m) at Randwick on February 6 for Flash Fibian. The $3.5 million G1 Golden Slipper on March 19, isn’t really on the radar at this stage.

“He’ll be going to the Inglis Classic,” Murray added. “He’s not nominated for the Golden Slipper. We’ll just take things as they come. You never know where you end up.”

If Murray changes his thinking on a Golden Slipper run, connections can pay a $150,000 late entry fee on the Monday before the race.

Flash Fibian is the first named foal of Langfibian, who passed away in October last year. Langfibian raced 65 times between 2004-09, winning 18 times for prizemoney of $244,615. Kooringal Stud will offer a Shrapnel x Langfibian colt at February's Inglis Classic Sale in Sydney.