Takhi can still raise a gallop

If you had overslept on the morning of Sept 10 and only managed to catch the final 400m of the trial on that same day, never in your wildest dreams would you have expected Takhi to beat them all.

You see, as the field of four negotiated the 600m marker, Awesome Conqueror and Super Pan Swiftly had the trial seemingly sewn up.

Ridden hell for leather by Saifudin Ismail and Sazali Ramli respectively, the pair had taken the lead from the moment the starter released them at the 1,000m.

Racing as one, they went full gallop and quickly put daylight between themselves and Takhi, who held third spot.

What did draw the attention was the run put in by Lucky Baby.

With his rating of 60, he should have had the trial done and dusted.

Yet, there he was, holding up the rear, as the gap to the leading pair – and Takhi – grew wider with every passing post.

He was out of it – and he never got back in it.

Not so, Takhi. He was no slouch. Up in the saddle, his trainer Richard Lim had a plan and he put it into action at the top of the stretch.

Having earlier taken a run wide out – seemingly, we thought it was to escape the kickback.

But as it turned out, he wanted the space to fashion a run.

That, he did. And in a matter of strides he had collared and condemned Awesome Conqueror and the 50-point rater Super Pan Swiftly to minor roles.

Never missing a beat, he went to the line a length winner from Awesome Conqueror.

Still under a good hold, Takhi clocked 1min 00.85sec for the trip.

Not one who we often see at the trials, the son of Bahamian Squall was only at his second since May 23, 2023.

Since then, he has had 19 starts which produced a win, two seconds and a third.

That last win, his third in a chequered career, came on Dec 17, 2023.

That day, when ridden by Manoel Nunes, he beat Tigarous in a Class 5 sprint over the 1,100m.

Some minor placings followed with the most promising showing coming on July 13 when, under Bernardo Pinheiro, he ran second to Maze in yet another sharp sprint.

A seven-year-old American-bred, Takhi still has plenty of good racing in those legs of his and although he is not included in Lim’s 17-strong assault made up of runners in nine of the 10 races at the upcoming meeting on Sept 14, Takhi must be kept on your shortlist as a horse who is ready to win.

He deserves it.

After all, if you recall, Takhi was the horse involved in a positive steroid swab, which led to his former trainer Jason Lim calling it a day after being disqualified for 18 months.

Well, all that is now water under the bridge and Takhi should be accorded plenty of respect and judged on his own merits.

As for the beaten trio in that just-concluded trial, none will see action on Sept 14 but keep an eye on third-placed Super Pan Swiftly when he next goes to the races.

One of only two horses left in trainer Alwin Tan’s care, he is better than what we saw at that most recent early morning hit-out.

The two-time winner by All Too Hard was impressive at his last win on April 21 when, under Ryan Curatolo, he beat Pacific Sonic by almost two lengths.

Since then, Pacific Sonic has gone on to win two good races – the last one as recently as Sept 1 when he beat The Shadow by three parts of a length.

Tan, whose only other horse is Bizar Wins, can only hope Super Pan Swiftly gives him something to smile about in the few remaining meetings to come.

brian@sph.com.sg