Two Group One winners were forced to share the Warwick Farm barrier trial spotlight on Thursday with a youngster new to the Sydney way of going.
Magic Millions-bound two-year-old Little Critter was in sharp form over 800m as he posted a four-length win in 46.8 seconds.
Little Critter, a last-start Adelaide winner, is set to make his NSW debut in the Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic (1100m) next Thursday.
A son of first-season sire Court Command, Little Critter ran a faster time than Group One stars Atomic Force and Gold Trial in their heat wins.
Adelaide trainer Tony McEvoy made a special trip to Sydney to watch the trial.
He said he received a favourable report about the colt from jockey Glyn Schofield.
“Glyn was quite complimentary … he quite liked him,” McEvoy said.
“I’ve asked Glyn to ride him at Wyong and he’s going to check on whether he is available.”
McEvoy said he started Little Critter’s career in Adelaide to help boost the profile of Court Command.
“I’ve always thought he had Melbourne-class ability but Court Command needed a winner so I placed him in Adelaide and he got the job done,” he said.
Little Critter was a $35 chance in TAB Sportsbet’s first Magic Millions markets but had eased to $41 on Thursday despite his trial win.
He is 17th in the latest order of entry for the $2 million race at the Gold Coast on January 14.
Established sprinter Atomic Force had his final serious hitout before heading to New Zealand for next month’s Railway Stakes with a 47.5s heat win over La Remlap.
Gold Trail clocked 47.6s to confirm he is on target for a Magic Millions day support race.
Of the beaten triallers, none held more interest than the Joe Pride-trained Rain Affair.
The highly-touted sprinter was kept on the bit as he finished second to Dee`N’Gee in 46.2s – the fastest 800m heat of the morning.
AAP TURF