Federation all fired up

He was beaten 2½ lengths in his trial on Tuesday morning. And the records will show that he finished third behind Bangkok Boy and My Gold.

But, Like They Say, That Was Just A Trial. It's To Be Watched And Stored In Your Memory Bank - Only To Be Regurgitated For Reference At A Later Date.

So, Keep Federation In Mind And Wait For The "Real Thing" To Come Along.

By My Reckoning, The Youngster From Trainer Mark Walker's Barn Is Being Groomed For A Winning Debut. His Trial On Tuesday Morning Was His Second In A Month. He Won The First And Was Third In His Latest.

But The Manner In Which He Went About That Morning Assignment Was Impressive.

After A Clean Start, Jockey Vlad Duric Settled Federation In The Second Half On The 10-horse Pack.

There He Stayed As My Gold And Bangkok Boy Fought Tooth And Nail Up Front.

Although Just A Three-year-old And Unraced At Kranji, Federation Wasn't Perturbed By The Hustle And Bustle Around Him. He Simply Took It All In Like An Old Pro.

Turning For The Run Home And He Was Still In No Hurry. Duric Had Hooked Him To The Centre Of The Track And, With The Two Frontrunners Having Sealed The Deal, Federation Came Into His Own.

Urged On Gently By Duric, He Made His Presence Felt. Indeed, 200m Out He Loomed Like An Aircraft Carrier Charging Through A Flotilla Of Small Craft.

And In That Run To The Post, Federation Was Travelling Better Than Even The Two In Front Of Him.

The Time He Posted - Which Was In The 62-second Range - Wouldn't Be Fodder For Any Headline, But The Manner In Which He Picked Up And Accelerated Wouldn't Have Gone Unnoticed.

Watch Federation When He Does Make His Kranji Debut. By Then, Walker Would Have Him Humming.

Watch Out Also For Melting Point. Remember Him? He Had Victory Taken Away From Him In The Stewards' Room When An Objection Lodged By The Rider Of Little Big Man Was Upheld.

Barend Vorster, Who Rode Melting Point, Was Suspended And The Horse Was Required To Pass A 1,000m Gallop - Which He Did On Tuesday.

Like Federation, Melting Point Didn't Win His Trial. That Went To Amazing Eclipse Who Won, What Was, A Head-bobber, Over The Final 50m.

Ridden By S John, Melting Point - Jumping From Six - Took Control At The 600m Mark. Although Swinging Wide For Clear Room On Straightening, He Seemed To Travel On A Straight Course To The Finish.

Trained By Leticia Dragon, Melting Point Showed More Than Average Ability When Second To Xiong Fong At Just His Third Outing Which Was In November Last Year.

Three Months And Four Runs Later, Dragon Had Ironed Out The Rough Edges And Melting Point Opened His Kranji Account With A Nice Win In A Class 3 Affair.

He Lay Dormant For Seven Long Months Until That Last Run When Winning - And Then Losing The Race On An Objection.

That Behind Her, Dragon Will Want To See Melting Point Put Things Right.

She Has Done A Great Job Keeping Him "Boiling Over". Let's See Him Bring That Form To The Races.