Boom two-year-old King Of Light shapes as an exciting prospect following a second dazzling victory, promoting trainer Dan Morton to target feature races during the upcoming Ascot carnival.
King Of Light looks every bit an excitement machine, defying a wide run to keep his unbeaten record intact and further fuel the hype surrounding his burgeoning talent.
In contrast to his debut victory at Pinjarra when he came from last, jockey William Pike was caught deep without cover but remained calm and allowed the talented youngster to build momentum before unleashing a powerful finishing burst to score impressively.
Justifying his status as raging favourite ($1.30), King Of Light, won the Tabtouch-Have You Got The Touch Plate (1400m) by 1 ½ lengths, defeating Radiant Light with another length to third placegetter, Pony Up.
Morton was full of praise for King Of Light, describing the son of Earthlight as ‘smart’ and is dreaming big, pinpointing the Group 2 WA Guineas (1600m) and Group 1 Northerly Stakes (1800m) as key goals.
“Yeah, impressive win, sat out there and kept coming,” Morton said.
“He covered a bit of ground, and you start second guessing if you’ve got this horse fit enough.
“He was good enough, he’s pretty smart.
“You're testing the water at the minute buy you might have a carnival horse.
“He can have a good little break now and aim up at some nice races.
“That’s his natural target (WA Guineas) and if you can get that far and with a three-year-old down in the weights you probably roll the dice into the Northerly Stakes (1800m).
“It’s rainbow sort of stuff but that’s why we’re in the game.”
Despite being posted wide, Pike said he was unfazed, having full confidence King Of Light had the ability and class to get the job done.
“It was a tough effort, and I think the pace was moderate,” Pike said.
“He’s the best horse in the race and I’m much happier to be three wide with cover than sitting last.
“It’s nice to be able to ride a horse with confidence.
“I knew I was setting him a task, but I also knew he was up to it.”
Pike’s victory aboard King Of Light kicked off another stellar day in the saddle, with the champion hoop booting home three more winners to round out a dominant performance.
Pike combined with Yorga Pride in race three, Famous Dain in race five and as is so often the case, he came home in the last on Simply Thinkin’.
Julio Santarelli