Mortal Engine all fired up to go

Smart debut winner Mortal Engine is picking up from where he left off earlier this season.

The Michael Clements-trained four-year-old, who had been "MIA" after his Jan 3 first-up win, has impressed for his return to racing. Last week, he finished an eye-catching second to stablemate Sahabat in his trial.

It was a knee injury, which required surgery, which kept him away for so long.

But his trainer has reassured everyone that Mortal Engine has fully recovered and is hoping to get the "Engine" going again for his comeback in today's last of 12 races.

The champion trainer said that the racing comeback was already a victory in itself - and a first-up win will be a bonus. He believes the best is yet to come.

"After his last run, he didn't look comfortable from the knees. We thought he could get away with it with some rest, and we then brought him back in training," said Clements.

"But it soon became evident that he needed surgery. That done, he had another rest before resuming training.

"He had that one trial last week and he went really well. I then decided that he was up to having a run this week."

Clements conceded that it was not the ideal scenario for preparing a horse towards a two-from-two, but he is optimistic.

"Obviously, there'll be some queries, and him going up in Class 4 is also a question mark," he said.

"But he's a horse who showed us a lot of potential, and I think he'll be up to the mark."

1st 8 Jaquar Cat ($122-$30)

2nd 2 Trumps Express ($7)

3rd 9 Narcos ($8)

4th 7 Irish Sea

Forecast $97 Place forecast (2-8) $27, (8-9) $39, (2-9) $8

Tierce $1,348 Trio $130 Quartet No winner ($3,304 carried forward)

RACE 2

RACE 3

1st 1 Rarotonga ($18-$8)

2nd 6 Lauretta Mia ($8)

3rd 9 Skating On Ice ($7)

4th 10 Red Ruby

Forecast $10 Place forecast (1-6) $4, (1-9) $9, (6-9) $8

Tierce $88 Trio $24

Quartet $4,094

Scratching: 12 Overjoyed

RACE 4

1st 2 Mount Athos ($29-$7)

2nd 4 Cape Point ($14)

3rd 1 Hikaru ($7)

4th 7 Mount Grace

Forecast $61 Place forecast (2-4) $22, (1-2) $5, (1-4) $11

Tierce $437 Trio $38

Quartet No winner ($1,454 carried forward)

Scratchings: 11 Green Tiger, 13 Klaserie

RACE 5

1st 12 Silvia Louise ($82-$25)

2nd 9 Mayfern ($13)

3rd 8 Senescence ($7)

4th 6 Corsage

Forecast $123 Place forecast (9-12) $31, (8-12) $16, (8-9) $9

Tierce $374 Trio $101 Quartet No winner ($1,760 carried forward)

Scratchings: 17 Legend Has It, 18 Purple And Gold

RACE 6

1st 12 Vihzoe's Magic ($103-$33)

2nd 2 Diamonds And Toads ($6)

3rd 7 Pam's Princess ($17)

4th 3 Lady Of The Flame

Forecast $111 Place forecast (2-12) $20, (7-12) $102, (2-7) $19

Tierce $3,689 Trio $177 Quartet No winner ($2,671 carried forward)

Scratchings: 4 Europeana, 16 Red Berry

RACE 7

1st 1 Global Drummer ($13-$5.10)

2nd 2 Marmara Sea ($7)

3rd 6 Aqua Delta ($10)

4th 7 Blingking

Forecast $6 Place forecast (1-2) $3, (1-6) $14, (2-6) $15

Tierce $96 Trio $42 Quartet $493

Scratching: 4 Wild Coast

RACE 8

1st 7 Marsh Marigold ($21-$6)

2nd 5 Mhlabeni ($15)

3rd 15 Strong Casha ($31)

4th 11 Flash Gala

Forecast $41 Place forecast (5-7) $13, (7-15) $59, (5-15) $57

Tierce $1,211 Trio $528

Quartet No winner ($144 jackpot carried forward to today's South Africa meeting)

Scratchings: 1 All The Sevens, 16 Red Bishop, 17 Al Falak