Banker’ssweetheart losing no admirers
Stablemate Banker’s Warrior also gives positive signs ahead of April 11 race debut
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Banker’ssweetheart (Farhan Ghazali) showing her rivals a clean set of heels in the opening barrier trial at Sungai Besi on April 7.
PHOTO: SELANGOR TURF CLUB
Brian Miller
On her overseas record, Banker’ssweetheart looked a shoo-in to win on her Malaysian debut.
Alas, when the mare did go to the races on March 15, her supporters would have felt jilted.
They sent the mare off as the $22 pick, but their “sweetheart” let them down when finishing sixth in that 1,100m sprint at the Selangor Turf Club.
So it was, they left her out in the cold at her last start on March 29 and it proved to be a wise decision as the Safeguard five-year-old did everything wrong.
She “fly-jumped” when the gates opened and never got going.
She eventually beat just one home and, as expected, the racing stewards deemed that she needed a starting test before her next start.
Trainer Johnny Lim Boon Thong did not waste much time. He sent her out for that jumpout on April 7 and she passed the test with flying colours under Farhan Ghazali.
Indeed, in winning her trial she showed glimpses of her Australian form when she romped in by three lengths in a really smart time of 59.35sec.
Banker’ssweetheart should now be primed and poised to add a first Malaysian victory to the five she scored when racing as Miss Flirtacious in Western Australia.
As has been the norm at the trials of late, the “bankers” had something more in the vault. In the second trial, Banker’s Warrior (Farhan) beat six rivals to win in a time of 1min 0.19sec.
A three-year-old by Grunt and also trained by Lim, he jumped cleanly, took the lead and was never headed.
Fortune Magic tried to make a race out of it but he never looked like getting the better of Banker’s Warrior, who went on to win by 1½ lengths.
To date, his connections have been patient with their youngster, who arrived from Australia on Sept 10, 2025.
The trial on April 7 was the first time racegoers got a glimpse of the galloper, whose best showing from three starts in Australia was a second-place finish in a race in Victoria.
With the benefit of the trial, Banker’s Warrior should give a good account of himself in his Malaysian debut in Race 5, a Restricted Maiden contest to be run over the 1,300m, on April 11.
Fortune Magic, who took second in that trial, was hardly disgraced.
From Winson Cheng Han Yong’s yard, he has been lightly raced with only two starts since touching down in Malaysia on April 25, 2025.
Last time on March 29, Fortune Magic was eased out of the race at the 800m mark when his jockey Liam Riordan felt that something was “amiss” with his mount.
He was right as Fortune Magic was found to be lame, hence, the trial and the test on April 7, which he passed.
The Savabeel four-year-old can bounce back at his next start.
Later, in the third trial of the morning, Cheng introduced racegoers to an exciting newcomer named King Of The Finish.
Unlike the earlier all-the-way winners on the day, the Dirty Work three-year-old lived up to his name by coming from a long way back to claim a narrow victory over a hard-ridden unnamed runner by Spirit Of Boom.
Showing fighting spirit under Haikal Hanif, he eventually took the honours by a short head in a time of 1:00.78. Another unnamed runner by New Bay (Jackson Low Kang Cheng) took third, another head away.
King Of The Finish might need a few more hit-outs to get him race-fit, but he showed fighting spirit in his trial and that should see him turn in a respectable debut.
