It was hard not to be impressed by King Of Light’s debut performance at Pinjarra three weeks ago, the two-year-old turning heads with a dominant win that stamped him as one to follow.
King Of Light was stone cold last with 200m remaining but unleashed a powerful finishing burst to score an eye-catching win at his first official visit to the races.
Trained by Dan Morton, King Of Light is all the rage to repeat the dose at Belmont on Saturday in the Tabtouch Have You Got The Touch Plate (1400m), standing out as the clear favourite.
King Of Light heads the market at $1.55 with punters showing little interest beyond the favourite, with Radiant Light, one of two starters for trainer, Neville Parnham, his nearest rival at $5.50.
Parnham says King Of Light deserves the accolades after his brilliant debut and although happy with his two representatives, he concedes they could be running for second prize.
“He was pretty impressive on debut that horse (King Of Light) and I’m sure it’s heading for better races than this down the track,” Parnham said on Tabradio.
“It’s going to be tough to beat it, but both my horses have nice ability, and I do believe they’ll turn out to be city class horses.
“Maybe they’ll be running for second and third, hopefully, they’re going alright, but I thought that horse was quite impressive in its trial and also its debut run.
“He’ll be hard to beat.”
After a solid third on debut, Radiant Light returns for his second outing and while Saturday looks a tall order against the short-priced favourite, Parnham’s confident he’s heading in the right direction.
“I Like Radiant Light and think he’s a horse who might still need a bit more time,” Parnham said.
“He found the line strongly when he found daylight the other day.
“On a nice fresh track at Belmont he should be eating up the ground late.
“Binky’s War has got a lot to learn but has her fair share of ability.
“She got trapped deep the other day but wouldn’t go away.
“She’s come forward and will like the straight at Belmont.
“Both horses have a future, it’s a matter if they can beat Dan’s horse.”
Radiant Light will be partnered by Steven Parnham and has drawn barrier five.
Bink’s War, fourth on debut, will jump from gate seven with Laqdar Ramoly booked for the ride.
Bink’s War is a $21 outsider with Tabtouch.
Parnham also expects last start winner God’s Gate to be a competitive force in the Morley Growers Market Handicap (1200m).
“He worked absolutely super on Tuesday,” Parnham said.
“I think he’ll run very well again.”
God’s Gate is rated a $10 chance with Tabtouch.
Julio Santarelli