It might’ve been a Sunday meeting at Geelong, but it seems a smart horse has emerged in the form of United Kingdom (NZ) (Almanzor), who caught the eye winning on debut.
The Almanzor colt, who was smashed in betting and jumped the $1.35 favourite in the 1506-metre maiden, settled at the rear of the field but let down brilliantly to easily reel in his rivals.
The performance was so impressive that the TAB has installed the colt as equal fourth favourite ($15) for the Australian Derby at Randwick in April.
Ben Melham rode United Kingdom on Sunday and said the colt has a promising future.
“He’s a lovely colt,” Melham said of the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained galloper.
“I had to sort of bring him out early before the corner and wind him up but he’s got a lovely turn of foot.
“He’s a definite Derby sort of horse, he’s got all the right attributes, he’s a lovely horse, lovely big stride on him and a good set of lungs, so it’s exciting to see what he can do.”
