Red Dragonfly remains undefeated in Malaysia
The four-year-old gelding makes it five straight wins in KL after his move up North
KUALA LUMPUR - Red Dragonfly’s remarkable transformation since arriving in Malaysia continued at Sungai Besi on Jan 19, when he made all the running in the RM49,000 (S$14,900) Class 4A – 1,500m handicap to make it five wins from five.
The Rubick gelding landed in Kuala Lumpur with a rating of just 22 last June after failing to win in 20 starts in Singapore.
But, under the care of trainer Ooi Chin Chin, Red Dragonfly broke his maiden status on Oct 26 with an easy win in a Class 5B sprint over 1,150m on the No. 2 track following two winning trials in the preceding two months.
From there, there was no looking back for the four-year-old.
He won two more times on the No. 2 track before stepping out on the main track to win a Class 5A – 1,400m on Dec 28.
Promoted after that win, Red Dragonfly ($18) stepped up in distance to face Class 4 opponents for the first time on Jan 19.
Partnered by Khaw Choon Kit, Red Dragonfly went straight to the front on settling down but Khaw kept a tight hold on the gelding until well into the straight.
Khaw pulled the whip to remind Red Dragonfly of the job ahead and the pair kept up a bright gallop to win by 1¾ lengths.
“He (Red Dragonfly) is a lovely horse with a big heart,” said Khaw, who has ridden him in all his five wins.
“He keeps on improving, no matter the distance.
“I was confident of a win today despite going up a class. I rode him in gallops and he was in good form.
“Hopefully he keeps on winning and maybe bag a Group 1 one day.”
Red Dragonfly’s rating will now be in the 50s after the success.
“Every time he went to the races, he improved,” said Ooi. “Today is no exception. Khaw rode him very well in front.”
Another runner who simply does not know how to lose at the moment is Big Bad Mama ($24) from the Nick Selvan stable. He took the penultimate race on the programme, over 1,020m.
Heading into this race, she was four from four over this course and distance. Despite the concerns of stepping up in class, she ran the field into the ground by going in front from start to finish with the advantage of the bottom weight; she is now unbeaten from five starts over this track and trip.
She was narrowly outside thetrack record as well with a winning time of 58.58 seconds.
The day got off to a rocky start with a few runners upsetting in the beginning of the card with all of Stretchy Four ($78); Jing Jin ($32); Grand Avante ($46) and Diaz ($34) winning.
But the day steadied out during the middle and end of the race, with favourable results turning the tides for some punters.
For the training ranks, Selvan celebrated a double for the day with Diaz and Big Bad Mama in the winners’ box as well as trainer Richard Lines, who followed suit with Jing Jin and Thunder Star ($22) bringing up a double for the yard as well.
Simon Dunderdale was the third trainer to have a double for the day with Good Fight ($16) and Ong Mari ($10) winning in successive races, flashing from nowhere to beat Duma who looked like a winner until the final five metres of the race.
Cheah Wei Wen was the only jockey who celebrated a double at the meeting winning aboard Diaz and Thunder Star.
SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFFONLINE
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