Latest news with #SouthernSpeed
New Paper
12-06-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Getting up to Southern Speed
Kuala Lumpur racing fans are in for 13 races, including three features - the Four-Year-Old Sprint Championship, the Charity Cup and the Korea Racing Authority Trophy. If anything, the programme on offer says it is worth the trek to the Selangor Turf Club in Sungai Besi on June 15. A pity if you cannot make it as there are several exciting races on the card. And, as a sort of preview, some of the runners with assignments on the undercard were out strutting their stuff on the training track on the morning of June 11. Impressive among them were the quartet of Southern Speed, Lim's Fuji, Written Towin and Pacific Snoopy. All came away with flying colours. Especially Southern Speed. Entered in Race 3, the Richard Lim-trained-and-owned galloper worked like a winner, clocking a smart time of 38.8sec for the 600m trip. That workout told us that he is holding that last-start winning form. Flashback to June 1 and Southern Speed put up a dogged front-running show, leading from the get-go to hold off Healthy Baby. He took the race by the narrowest of margins - a nose. It was his fourth win and his first at his new home up north. Although already a seven-year-old, this son of I Am Invincible still manages to reinvent himself as a lion when on a racetrack. Yes, he looks good for back-to-back wins and, with winning jockey Troy See retaining the ride, Southern Speed looks like a good one to get the ball rolling early on June 15. Although Lim's Fuji was not out to get into any record books, he tossed in a good workout when clocking 41.2sec for the 600m. A one-time winner at Kranji when under the tutelage of Daniel Meagher, the Foxwedge six-year-old is still looking to break through for a first Malaysian victory. Now with Lawson Moy, he has a second-place finish to his name. That was in a race on March 9 when he went down by three parts of a length to Red Sun. His form then seemed to take a dip but his connections would have been pleased with his last-start effort when third to Pacific Sonic over the 1,200m. Moy has entered him for a 1,700m race on June 15. It will be his first attempt over the trip but given the fact that he likes to come off the pace in his races, the longer trip might be just what he wants. So hang around for Race 13. It might be worth your while. Earlier on June 15, in the 11th event on the day, mark down Pacific Snoopy as a mare to follow. She worked up a storm on the training track, clocking a swift 37.5sec for the 600m. From trainer David Kok's yard, the Hellbent five-year-old showed a return to form when running third to Paletas at her last start on May 25. Ridden by Oscar Chavez, she did not have any luck in the running and was obliged to race wide for most of the 1,150m trip. A Malaysian winner over the 1,020m on March 1, she has to negotiate the 1,400m on June 15, which should not pose any problems as she has won over the trip. That was at Kranji on Jan 20, 2024 when ridden by Vlad Duric, she came off fourth spot at the top of the Kranji straight to beat Ocean Jupiter by half a length. She is looking for her third career win and with star jockey Wong Chin Chuen flying in from his Seoul base for the ride, she will have loads of pals on and off course. On current form, both horse and rider could - by the end of the day's racing - seal those friendships. Then, and also from the training track, there was that 39.2sec run turned in by Written Towin. From the stables of Nick Selvan, the son of Written By will trot to the start in Race 5. It is another one of those sharp sprints over 1,100m and, going on his previous showings - especially when racing at Kranji - the trip should be right up his alley. Now a four-year-old, Written Towin has been getting close to breaking through for his second success and his first Malaysian victory. So far, and although he has tossed in a second-place finish and three fourth-placed efforts, the win has been elusive - not quite a reflection of his name. To his credit, Written Towin won a trial on May 20. That was over the 1,000m. His last start on May 25, when he finished a well-beaten sixth to Surrey Hills, was over the 1,200m. Selvan will be hoping the drop back in trip to the 1,100m will bring out the best in the sprinter. brian@
New Paper
01-06-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Elite Prince holds court again
Relative newcomer Elite Prince overcame his outside barrier in the RM200,000 (S$61,000) 3-Year-Old Sprint Championship (1,200m) to score back-to-back wins at Sungai Besi on June 1. Trained by Singaporean Richard Lim, the son of Bon Hoffa faced 12 other runners in the highlight race in Kuala Lumpur, including several last-start winners like Duma, Yes Man, Defeater, Release The Spirit and Rocky Bhai. Elite Prince was no pushover among his peers, though. After an unplaced run on debut on April 20, the Australian-bred opened his account with a handy win in a Restricted Maiden race (1,200m) at his second and last start on May 18, when he beat Singha Bay by 1¾lengths. Although he won from gate 11 then, Lim was still worried the wide barrier 9 this time could work against his positive tactics, but the promising Elite Prince dispelled his concerns shortly after the start. The three-year-old chestnut galloper showed plenty of speed under Shafiq Rizuan to cut across and lead on the rails from Sakura (Mohd Zaki) and Yes Man (Oscar Chavez) in the back straight. Turning for home, Elite Prince ($30) quickly put a two-length margin between him and Yes Man. Duma (Andre da Silva), who had been buried in fifth on the rails, switched to the outside at the 400m to launch his challenge. But Elite Prince was in no mood to relinquish his advantage and held on all the way to the line. Duma ran more than two lengths behind in second while Yes Man finished another length away in third. The winning time was 1min 9.28sec for the 1,200m on the short course. Lim was relieved with Elite Prince's second win over the 1,200m trip, which he has raced over in all three starts in Malaysia, but reckoned the Mahalinggam Palanisamy-owned gelding could have his job cut out for him in the 3-Year-Old Mile Championship (1,600m) on June 29. "We were quite worried before the race, not just (the highest-rated) Duma, but many other runners too because they've all done quite well," said the Penang-born conditioner. "There's a lot of speed in the race and he (Elite Prince) has drawn wide, so we thought he could be caught wide. Luckily, he got across quite easily. "The 1,600m might be a bit too long for him. I would have to discuss with the owner and Shafiq again to decide if we run him then." First-time race partner Shafiq said a change of racing pattern could suit Elite Prince should he go over the mile. "I worked the horse in the week and I know he's got ability, because he won easily at his last start," said the former two-time Singapore champion apprentice. "Today, I was a bit worried because we drew wide, but the race worked out very well for him as he led easily. He kept going in the straight. "I think he can stay the 1,600m but we might have to change how we ride him." Lim has brought up his first hat-trick of wins in Malaysia since he relocated to Kuala Lumpur in Dec 2024. Before Elite Prince's victory in Race 7, Southern Speed ($52) took out the RM38,000 Class 5A contest (1,400m) for comeback jockey Troy See in Race 2, while King's Gambit ($15) saluted in the other Class 5A event (1,400m) under da Silva in Race 3. From seven rides at his first meeting in Malaysia on June 1 after eight years, See has racked up a winning double. After D's Secret ran fourth in the opener, the 36-year-old Singaporean jockey steered Southern Speed to a nose victory on his second ride. He then booted home another winner - The Wild Hero ($11) - for trainer Jason Ong in the RM38,000 Class 5A race (1,020m) in the last race. The 2018 Singapore champion apprentice last rode in New South Wales, Australia on Jan 21, 2023, when he incurred the wrath of the stewards for his conduct. He had a mobile phone in his possession during a random search performed in the jockeys' room at his last meeting at Murwillumbah. See, who rode 12 winners in Australia, pleaded guilty to three charges - possession of a mobile phone in the jockeys' room, refusal to obey a stewards' direction and hindering stewards in the exercise of their powers and duties. He was disqualified for 22½ months, from Jan 29, 2023 to Dec 15, 2024. Before he relocated to Australia, he had been riding in Singapore since his debut in 2012. See, who rode in six races for one third in Malaysia back in 2017, has since returned to riding in the barrier trials at Kuala Lumpur on April 2. sharonzhang@
7NEWS
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Watchme Win's staggering return continues against Giga Kick in the Goodwood
For all of trainer Andrew Gluyas' success — which includes three Group One wins with one solely under his name — he's never been successful in one of the four majors in South Australia. When in partnership with Leon MacDonald, the training duo won the 2011 Caulfield Cup with Southern Speed and the 2014 Champagne Stakes with Indy Go Go, while more recently Gluyas won the Victoria Derby with Goldrush Guru. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Watchme Win's stunning return continues in the Goodwood. The pair came agonisingly close in 2023 with Another Award, who finished second in both the Robert Sangster Stakes and The Goodwood, and Gluyas is hoping Watchme Win can go one better. Sporting the same black and white colours of MacDonald racing, the four-year-old gelding won his way into the field with a strong victory in the Group 3 John Hawkes Stakes (1100m), although Gluyas admits it hadn't been the plan all along. 'Not really, we were just hoping to get him racing because he had a whole year off,' Gluyas said. 'So, after a good start-up prep, we gave him a break, after that Sir Sway race, and then we thought we'd see where he pops up, and he's popped up alright.' A trackwork incident as a two-year-old nearly saw Watchme Win's career over before it started, but Gluyas is confident the five-time winner is ready for a crack at Group One level. 'We're excited for Saturday. He's come through that run in the John Hawkes really well, he's building towards the six furlongs and it just happens to be in a Group One, but he's good.' As a set weights and penalties race, Watchme Win will likely carry 56kg in The Goodwood, giving away 1.5kg to all-in favourite Giga Kick, who hasn't won a race since May 2023 but is 24 official ratings points clear of Watchme Win, who is an $18 chance. 'I wish it was a handicap, that would've helped but that's the way it goes, it is how it is,' Gluyas lamented. 'I reckon it is (wide open) for them all, a lot of those mares are in good form out of the Sangster, so it should be good.' 'It's the right time to have a crack, if the race was somewhere else, well, maybe not, but at home, you may as well. 'Winning a Goodwood, that'd be alright, wouldn't it?' Dual group 1 champion and Everest winner Giga Kick is a $2 favourite.
