The Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard-trained Harlech pleased his connections with his 1020m trial heat win at Te Teko on Tuesday and he will now be set on a path towards the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld NZ 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
“Harlech we think he is probably our best three-year-old,” Moroney said. “We are going to aim him at the 2000 Guineas in Christchurch.
“We think a lot of him. He’s a Darci Brahma colt and he is just going to get better with practice, but he looks reasonably smart.”
Moroney was also pleased with the trial performances of a pair of two-year-old fillies who strike him as precocious types.
“We have got some nice two-year-olds,” he said. “We had two there at Te Teko today, a really nice filly by Dissident, she is quite quick, and a Showcasing filly that ran second that we quite like as well and is an early type.
“There are enough young ones there to say that something will definitely put their hand up, but of the ones that we have had a glimpse at, Harlech looks the best of them early on.”