Gamestonks right at top of his game at KL trials

On the morning of Oct 22 when nine trials were run off at the Selangor Turf Club – three of which were over the sprint trip of 400m – it was an eight-year-old who came away looking the best of the lot.

Opening proceedings in trial No. 1, Gamestonks proved just too good for the pack.

Ridden by former Kranji-based apprentice jockey Clyde Leck and trained by his cousin Joseph Leck, the son of Showcasing cleared the chute without any problems and quickly settled off the back of his stablemate, Mainstream.

There he stayed until straightening up for the run home.

Urged on by Leck, Gamestonks took the lead and – racing down the middle of the grass track – cleared away to beat the fast-finishing Mega Gems by 3½ lengths. Mainstream stayed on for third.

If that was not good enough, Gamestonks broke the minute-mark, clocking 59.79sec for the 1,000m trip.

An honest-to-goodness sort of runner, Gamestonks has already brought home 10 wins for his owners – the Fated To Win Stable – last tasting success in a Supreme A race over 1,300m on Aug 24 when he inflicted the immensely talented Antipodean his only defeat.

On the strength of that win at this most recent trial, there could be more of the sort in the offing.

Another one who came through the trials looking like a million bucks was the former Kranji-based Pacific Snoopy.

She had things all her way when taking out trial No. 2 in a time of 1min 0.53sec.

She beat Luen On Feelings by just under a length.

But, in fairness, she was never asked to do more than what was necessary to secure that victory.

Ridden by Brazilian jockey Laercio de Souza, the Hellbent mare seemed in a hurry to get going and, after clearing the gates, she immediately took control of the trial, leaving Luen On Feelings and Defeater – who eventually finished third – wallowing in her wake.

Looking comfortable in her role of pacemaker, the five-year-old was never in doubt as she went from barrier to box.

Now trained by Charles Leck, Pacific Snoopy did all of her early racing at Kranji where she was under the care of David Kok.

She only found the line at the last of her 10 Kranji starts on Jan 20.

That day, under a ride from Vlad Duric, he beat the $10 favourite, Ocean Jupiter by half a length in a hotly contested Open Maiden race over the 1,400m.

Leck has been patient with this new inclusion to his yard and since January, he has sent her out for just three races, albeit without winning.

But she has not been idling in her stall.

She has been a regular at the trials and that last one on Oct 22 was her fifth hit-out since Aug 6.

Like most of the horses racing in those Pacific colours, this one also looks ready to make waves.

Aside from the Lecks, who each pulled off a win, the other busy man was newly licensed trainer Ricky Choi Chun Wai who is applying the last finishing touches to his team ahead of his Malaysian debut.

The former Macau-based trainer came away with a winning double – in the third trial with Lucky To Win and the fourth one with Wealthyness.

Both were ridden by Jackson Low Kang Cheng and both were not too shabby.

Lucky To Win beat the Sharee Hamilton-trained Radetzky Marsch by a head when running the 1,000m in 1min 00.61sec.

It was an inspiring run as Lucky To Win came from a long way back at the 400m mark.

At that point he had given the leaders a five-length head start but when Low peeled him out into clear running and asked him to go, the son of Deep Field did not need a second invitation.

He lengthened strides and caught Radetzky Marsch right on the line.

As for Wealthyness, he made it an all-the-way win, taking command at the jump out and never letting the others get involved.

The Divine Prophet six-year-old clocked 1min 0.74sec.

Both of Choi’s runners came with their trainer from Macau, and as such, have yet to face the starter in Malaysia.

Of the two, Wealthyness has visited the winner’s circle a lot more often – six times, thrice over 1,200m and 1,500m each, from 25 starts – at the now-closed Macau Jockey Club’s Taipa racecourse.

Lucky To Win has won only once (1,800m) in 17 starts, but could not be faulted for what he has shown thus far.

In any case, they both come with that unknown factor, which will ensure plenty of interest when they are entered for their first Malaysian races.

brian@sph.com.sg