Gurney Drive looks lip-smacking good

Sure, we have all heard of Gurney Drive. When in Penang, that is where you can indulge in good food.

Well, Gurney Drive could soon be on the lips of racegoers in Selangor and elsewhere.

That is Gurney Drive the galloper and, right now, he is probably the most tasteful runner in trainer Ananthen Kuppan’s yard in Sungai Besi.

How not to be? Like clockwork, he has been adding money to the coffers and his last five runs going back to Aug 11 2024 read 3-4-2-2-2.

Now, surely that is something to drool over and, the best part is, he could soon be turning those “twos” into wins.

On the morning of Jan 7, the seven-year-old was the star at trackwork when he went over the 600m in a flashy 36.6sec.

It was a fine piece of work and it could spell trouble for his rivals in the 5 (A) sprint over the 1,150m on Jan 12.

Yes, Gurney Drive is riding on the crest of a wave and, it should not take much for him to go better than those two second-placed finishes on Oct 20 and Dec 8.

A son of Casino Prince, Gurney Drive has now scored five wins – three of which were at the Penang Turf Club, where his name used to roll off the tongue like a good dish served up at the state’s favourite hawker haunt.

Ananthen has picked a nice race for his galloper as track and trip looks to be right up his alley. So, be there at the Selangor Turf Club on Jan 12 and you could be saying “cheers” to a good win.

Another one who could salute on Jan 12 looks to be Rhythm Of Zen.

Prepared for the races by Sharee Hamilton, he caught the eye of clockers when running the 600m in 37sec.

A New Zealand-bred by Time Test who is just a four-year-old, Rhythm Of Zen justified favouritism when he held off a late charge by Selangor Star to win a Class 4 (B) race over the 1,200m on Sept 1.

Three runs later, on Nov 10, he played bridesmaid when second to Silver Samurai. Last start on Dec 15, he was a fading fifth when carrying stable confidence.

Rhythm Of Zen is a young horse with loads of potential and the new season could be where he showcases that talent.

The Supreme (A) race over the 1,200m brings together some of the most high-class gallopers residing at Sungai Besi and, true to form, the handful who turned up for morning gallops did not disappoint.

Antipodean, the winner of nine from 10, including the Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m), was one of them.

A likely favourite in the main race coming up on Jan 12, he clocked 36.2sec for the 600m.

Also impressive was Revue. He did the short and sharp trip in 37sec.

But it was all about Antipodean.

After his last win in the Toto Cup for trainer Simon Dunderdale on Oct 13, the four-year-old son of Derryn was transferred to trainer Tiang Kim Choi, who has kept him under wraps.

It was only on Dec 31 that we had a glimpse of the galloper.

That was in a trial and, obviously not asked to do much, he took fourth in that hit-out won by Witnessimpact.

However, it must be noted that, even when beaten by slightly more than five lengths, Antipodean clocked a respectable time of 1min 01.19sec for the 1,000m.

Come Jan 12, Antipodean will be looking to make it win No. 10 – and you had better not bet against it happening.

Revue was another whose name went into numerous notebooks.

The six-year-old Australian-bred, who carries a rating of 77, is one of many talents unleashed by former Macau trainer Ricky Choi on his rivals in Malaysia.

So far, he has had no complaints. Revue has done everything right and his two starts in Selangor have produced two wins.

Indeed, and if you were to take in the result of Revue’s only trial in Selangor, you would get three wins from three.

Yes, since winning the morning hit-out in a swift 1min 00.41sec on Oct 29, Revue went on to score smart wins at his next two starts.

The first was on Nov 24. Somewhat neglected in the betting, he made racegoers take notice when he won his debut in a canter – taking it by 8¼ lengths.

As expected, the son of Delago Deluxe was backed down to short odds at his next start and he did not disappoint.

Although having to start from an outside gate, he easily found the rails and thereafter parked himself behind the pack.

Allowed to take the shortest route home, he motored in to beat Lim’s Betterready by 1¾ lengths.

Yes, Revue is the real deal and more wins look forthcoming.

brian@sph.com.sg