Another Vigorous hunts redemption

ANOTHER VIGOROUS has a chance to redeem himself in Saturday's Alexander Hamilton Trophy feature race at a mile following the rough trip he encountered at five and a half furlongs when breaking from post-position one in the St Catherine Trophy in which he finished third behind ANOTHER BULLET and NUCLEAR FLIGHT.

Looking to close out a hat-trick of wins after back-to-back victories at seven furlongs, ANOTHER VIGOROUS broke okay but was taken in hand and ended up being caught down along the rail behind NUCLEAR FLIGHT, ANOTHER BULLET and PRINCESS EMANUELLE, losing ground and shuffled back to fifth in the seven-horse field.

Lugging near topweight 122lb, ANOTHER VIGOROUS was left flat-footed at the half-mile, six lengths off the lead, and turned for home four and a half behind old rival NUCLEAR FLIGHT being challenged by ANOTHER BULLET.

Showing great courage, ANOTHER VIGOROUS ran on into third place, beaten by a fast 1:04.3, with both his rivals turning the tables on him, especially NUCLEAR FLIGHT, who, up to then, had never finished ahead of him on the round course.

Facing three seasoned distance horses - HOVER CRAFT, SARATOGA SIGHT and SUPERLUMINAL - among the five opponents he squares off with on Saturday, ANOTHER VIGOROUS ventures into unknown territory, having never gone a mile before.

However, this time around, post-position one could well play to his advantage, being the naturally quickest horse in the race with five runners between himself and his main threat, SUPERLUMINAL, who won his last race at eight and a half, mid-December, beating MY ELLE BELLE in a decent 1:45.3.

Despite being the proven distance horse in the race and running eight pounds lighter than ANOTHER VIGOROUS, SUPERLUMINAL is far from bulletproof in what could turn out to be a match race. The seven-year-old is actually up in class, returning to open allowance, after getting a pass down to overnight when winning in December.

Nothing can be taken away from SUPERLUMINAL on his best day, having worked brilliantly, seven furlongs in 1:27.3 on Sunday. However, ANOTHER VIGOROUS' victories at seven furlongs, especially the Gladiator Trophy when he beat ANOTHER BULLET in open allowance, were far more terrifying than SUPERLUMINAL's win over MY ELLE BELLE, who had actually joined him a furlong out.

Nelson's best shot is to steal the race from in front, using ANOTHER VIGOROUS' natural pace to float down the backstretch and kick away from the three pole to have SUPERLUMINAL under the pump. If he gets into the lane clear, Nelson should have his fans singing his praises, setting off yet another Nelson-Walker debate.