You would be forgiven for thinking the name Unreal Speed is familiar without instantly knowing everything about him because he has spent the past eight months on the sidelines.

Trained by Robert Britton, Unreal Speed has had just 11 career starts for eight wins.

The son of Space Star and Shiny Bright has had the one start over 525 meters – a best of the day 29.87 second maiden victory at The Meadows.

From there Britton stepped him up to 600 and 700 metre racing for great success.

Unreal Speed’s 41.62 second run in the 2024 Sandown Cup heat was something special. An off the pace victory – recording the fourth fastest time set at Sandown Park over the 715 metre distance for the year.

This run sent him flying into early favouritism for the Group 1 Sandown Cup but he was scratched after sustaining a hairline fracture to his fibular.

Unreal Speed jumps from box five in a heat of the 2024 Sandown Cup. 

But that wasn’t what kept him side-lined for eight months, rather a tear to the Achillies Tendon during his return.

“He has been trialing really well – equally as good as before his injuries,” trainer Robert Britton said.

The word freak has been thrown around to describe Unreal Speed in his short career so far. Naturally, I put this to Rob, who politely told me to calm myself.

“On ability he has special qualities, but he has to do it against the very best.”

“The rest of the litter are really handy, and he has always had 10 – 12 lengths on them.”

And of course, I asked if Unreal Speed should be in the Zoom Top considering his time on the sidelines.

“On form its hard to leave him out,” Britton said.

“I wouldn’t enter him if he wasn’t right.”

Nominations for the Group 1 Zoom Top, Group 1 Temlee and Australian Cup heats closed today. A full list of nominations is available HERE.

The hand selected fields for the Zoom Top and Temlee will be announced on Monday afternoon.

So, the question is… is he in or is he out of the Zoom Top field.