The Lester Alex­is trained Cool Cat was the star on the first day of the Ari­ma Race Club (ARC) 2022 rac­ing sea­son. Cool Cat scored an up­set but im­pres­sive­ly vic­to­ry in the fea­ture event, the Grade Three - Sian's Gold Sprint over 1100 me­tres on the Turf Course at San­ta Rosa Park, Ari­ma on Sat­ur­day.

Pun­ters made the Vic­tor Prescott owned six-year-old a 9-1 bet­ting choice to win the first Grad­ed Event of the new sea­son and he won like a 1-5 favourite in the process.

With 500 me­tres left to race, Nigel Flavee­ny sent La­dy Bird for home and she opened a three-length lead on Su­per­bird as Ear­ly Bird be­gan came un­der pres­sure as Cool Cat was asked to close by Keiran Raza­ck. How­ev­er, once Com­ing to the cor­ner Raza­ck moved Cool Cat off the rail to mount his chal­lenge be­tween the two birds and the rest is his­to­ry as he eas­i­ly read­i­ly pulled clear of his ri­vals as Su­per­bird and La­dy Bird fought out a good bat­tle for sec­ond.

Raza­ck cel­e­brat­ed a long way from the line, as the son of Charis­mat­ic Cat/Dream Girl cruised to the 2 1/2 length suc­cess in the time of 1:04.4.

Rid­ing ho­n­ours for the day fell to Ronald Ali who rode a dou­ble for train­er Michael Lutch­man. Lutch­man sad­dled At­ta Girl Sil­vy and Leave Me Alone.

Here are The Open­ing Day RE­FLEC­TIONS:

R1:

Great Heart - Broke well, tracked leader un­til as­sum­ing con­trol 800 me­tres out. Sent for home 400 me­tres out and quick­ened clear 300 out. Ran on well. Will win again and again.

Prince Con­nor - Close up, al­ways track­ing win­ner, chal­lenged 500 me­tres out, not able to keep pace with win­ner but stayed on.

Twit­ter King - Well away, chas­ing lead­ers, every chance cor­ner, un­able to quick­en fi­nal 200 me­tres.

Rac­ing Pa­tri­ot - Mid-pack ear­ly, im­proved 600 me­tres out, un­able to close fi­nal 200 me­tres.

R2:

Star of Won­der - Close up and go­ing well, tak­en back down the back-straight, asked to close 600 me­tres out and go­ing well, picked it up 500 me­tres out and ran on strong­ly to the line. Good ef­fort.

Fast N Fu­ri­ous - Al­ways close up and in touch, rid­den to chal­lenge 500 me­tres out, ran on.

Sun­set Cloud - Al­ways in the van, chal­leng­ing for the lead 800 me­tres out, every chance cor­ner, stayed on.

Gold­en D'or - Broke slow­ly, Head­way 800 me­tres out, every chance 500 me­tres out one-paced there­after. will be bet­ter for the run.

R3:

Coup D'etat - Well away and in touch, closed on the leader 600 me­tres out, rid­den to chal­lenge 500 me­tres out and led cor­ner, stayed on well.

CP Jet - In touch and close up ear­ly, held every chance at the cor­ner, stayed on strong­ly.

Nu­clear Fire - Led and go­ing well, pressed from far turn, head­ed cor­ner stayed on.

Un­set­tled - Mid-di­vi­sion ear­ly, tracked the pace and every chance cor­ner ran on.

R4:

At­ta Girl Sil­vy - Well rid­den, broke well and tracked the pace, asked to close far turn, chal­lenged cor­ner and go­ing well, ran on strong­ly for an im­pres­sive suc­cess.

Un­set­tled Heart - Al­ways in the van and go­ing well, sneaked through on the in­side and held every chance, could not peg back the win­ner.

Gold For John - In touch and go­ing well, chal­lenged 500 me­tres out, every chance un­able to quick­en fi­nal 200 me­tres.

El Chapo -- Close up and go­ing well, every chance cor­ner, un­able to quick­en fi­nal 200 me­tres.

Schwarzeneg­ger - Close up and hunt­ing the pace­set­ters, go­ing well and chal­lenged 600 me­tres out, un­able to quick­en fi­nal 200 me­tres.

R5:

With Hon­ors - Well away, rid­den con­fi­dent­ly, pressed 500 me­tres out, quick­en 30o me­tres from home and ran on well. Can go in again.

Why Ka­palua - Close up and chal­leng­ing for the lead, pressed strong­ly cor­ner, un­able to match the win­ner's pace.

Price Alert - Broke well and was in touch, go­ing well and chal­lenged 500 me­tres out but the win­ner had too many guns for them.

Cac­tus Trea­sure - In touch, ef­fort to close 500 me­tres out, stayed on with­out threat­en­ing the prin­ci­pals.

R6:

Cool Cat - Well away, saved ground on the rail up the back, close quick­ly be­tween the 600 me­tres and 400 me­tres mark­er, chal­lenged be­tween hors­es 400 me­tres out, led 300 me­tres out and ran of well. won styl­ish­ly.

Su­per­bird - Well away and go­ing well. Tracked the pace un­til chal­leng­ing at the cor­ner, every chance 300 me­tres out, out­run to the line by win­ner.

La­dy Bird - Well away and go­ing well, clear en­ter­ing straight, every chance 300 me­tres out­stayed on.

Sig­nal Note - be­hind ear­ly, ef­fort to close far turn, un­able to get to the first three.

R7:

Leave Me Alone - Mid-di­vi­sion ear­ly closed com­ing to the far turn, every chance cor­ner when sent in chase of the lead­ers, ran on well fi­nal 200 me­tres to mas­ter run­ner-up close home.

Mar­coni - In touch and go­ing well, chal­lenged for lead 500 me­tres out­stayed on well.

Davin­ci Code - Mid-di­vi­sion ear­ly, ef­fort to close 500 me­tres out, ran on.

Fin­ish­ing Touch - Well away, in touch and go­ing well, every chance cor­ner stayed on.

Mar­vel Vig­or - Broke smart­ly, claimed the lead ear­ly, led and went well, was chal­lenged at the cor­ner but weak­ened fi­nal `100 me­tres. Will re­gain the win­ning thread soon.