S’pore presence in Piala Emas
Dream Alliance in last Selangor feature but Pacific Warrior is out
KUALA LUMPUR - Singapore racing may have ceased to exist since Oct 5, but across the Causeway, the Selangor Turf Club’s biggest race day will bring echoes of the once-thriving industry on Dec 1.
Former Kranji stayer Dream Alliance makes his Malaysian debut in the last feature on the Malaysian racing calendar, the RM250,000 (S$75,500) Group 1 Piala Emas Sultan Selangor (2,000m).
The final leg of the Club’s Triple Crown Series is the blue riband for the top stayers in the country.
The first and second leg, the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (won by Cheval Blanc) and the Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (won by Antipodean) were run in April and September respectively.
Dream Alliance could have had an ex-Kranji buddy in Pacific Warrior, who was filed as the first Malaysian entry for his new trainer Jason Ong, but was withdrawn on veterinary grounds.
The two-time Singapore champion trainer, along with other ex-Kranji trainers Richard Lim, Jerome Tan, Mahadi Taib and Alwin Tan (Ipoh) have yet to follow in the footsteps of David Kok, who has already saddled his first runners, and one winner (Pacific Charm).
A winner of four races for Australian trainer Tim Fitzsimmons, Dream Alliance is now prepared by trainer Wayne Lim, who is Richard’s older brother.
The Into Mischief six-year-old will face the starter as the highest rated new entry at 92 points and will be ridden by this season’s leading jockey Ruzaini Supien.
The most notable absentee is Smart Star, the winner of Singapore’s very last race and Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m). Kok could not get the gelding to recover in time from a hoof soreness.
Impressive last-start winner Shang Chi is also a former Singapore-based galloper, but he moved up north way before the closure.
However, it is not just in terms of horseflesh that Singapore will make its presence felt at that glamour meeting, but also through a company that has become a regular special guest at international races in the last two years, the Singapore Pools.
One of the races on the undercard will be named after the Singapore gaming company. Four other international racing clubs will also be honoured, namely the Melbourne Racing Club, Jockey Club of Turkey, Royal Bangkok Sports Club and Royal Sabah Turf Club.
Representatives will present the prizes of their named race to the respective winners.
The sixth and last venue Pools was invited to a similar event was in Ipoh for the Coronation Cup meeting on Nov 3, when the Singapore Pools Trophy was captured by the same Shang Chi.
It would be quite a feat if the Winson Cheng Han Yong-trained gelding named after a Marvel superhero can muscle his way to another such win, but he faces much tougher opposition this time.
Besides Singapore, Macau has noticeably become an emerging purveyor of stock in Malaysia, and for identical reasons. Its racing was shut down on April 1.
Two of them are in the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor line-up – Mega Gems and Family Delight.
Trained by Wayne Lim, Mega Gems annexed the Group 1 Coronation Cup (1,600m) at his third local outing on Nov 3, not to mention the Zoustar five-year-old also boasts the 2023 Group 1 Macau Derby (1,800m) on his CV.
Placed in three of six New Zealand runs, Family Delight won five races (1,500m,1,800m) for Ricky Choi over three seasons in Macau.
Choi has been an instant hit in Malaysia, saddling a winner in each of the last two meetings at Sungai Besi, with two former Macau gallopers, Wealthyness and the impressive Revue on Nov 24.
While Family Delight is being thrown in at the deep end, it may pay to follow the hot Macau streak. Jackson Low Kang Cheng takes the ride on Family Delight. SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE
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