Judging from what Apollo Sixty-One showed at the trials on the morning of Oct 20, he could be on the launch pad to a winning debut in the Open Maiden sprint on Oct 24.

Partnered by Oscar Chavez in the opening hit-out on a yielding track at Sungai Besi, Apollo Sixty-One was all-conquering in that eight-horse affair.

Trialling with blinkers, the five-year-old by Brazen Beau was always in control of things.

Although Big Union (Azizi Azhari) made it really close when going down by a short head on the outside, the end result was never in doubt.

Apollo Sixty-One was always going too well and his time of 59.45sec for the 1,000m was testament to his sprinting ability.

Trainer Jason Lim first sent Apollo Sixty-One to the trials on Oct 6. He ran second by half-a-length to Rapid Strike who clocked a smart time of 59.71sec.

As for the Jerome Tan-trained Big Union, he was a “good thing beaten” at his last start in the Magic Millions Trophy race (1,200m) on Sept 13.

The Zoustar six-year-old ran second to Fortune Tree, even after he was severely inconvenienced by the stumbling Emerald Lisi at the 600m mark.

He looks set to make amends for that last-start setback.

So, look out for his next start when he goes in search of a seventh win.

The third-placed Little Star (Lim Weng Hooi), who sat on Apollo Sixty-One’s withers for most of the journey, will also benefit from that outing.

A winner over the mile in New Zealand where he was known as Nick Time, the Time Test five-year-old should do well on debut.

If they awarded prizes for the “most comfortable winner of the day”, Storm To Finish would have been a worthy winner.

The Anders four-year-old from Ricky Choi’s yard took the second trial of the morning by a whopping 9½ lengths from He’s My Halo (Chavez).

Although not pressed over the final furlong, Storm To Finish still went on to clock an impressive time of 59.85sec under Benny Woodworth.

From nine starts, Storm To Finish has won three, but it could have been four. Well backed at his last start, he was bumped and squeezed out on jumping, raced wide and eventually had to be content with a third placing.

He was at the trials by order of the club’s veterinary team after he returned from that race with respiratory distress. Now that he has passed his test, he could return to winning ways.