Coetzee on fire with three in a row in Ipoh

Trainer Kevin Coetzee is off to a good start in the 2026 Ipoh racing season after he bagged three winners on Jan 18, putting him in the lead on the trainers’ log with four wins.

The South African conditioner, who finished second to Asogan Thangaraju (33 wins) with 29 wins in 2025, fired in three consecutive wins on the second meeting in Ipoh after he opened his 2026 account with Thundergod on Jan 4.

Ridden by Liang Xiaochuan, Malakai surprised at big odds of $201 to score in the Class 5A event (1,400m) in Race 6, before Winning Stride ($39) and Snow Storm ($99) took out the More Than Racing Stakes (1,400m) and the RM50,000 (S$15,900) Ipoh Stables Market Trophy (1,600m) in Race 7 and Race 8 respectively.

While Coetzee was taken aback by the six-year-old Malakai’s first win for him, he was optimistic of a good showing from the nine-year-old Snow Storm in the Cosmo D race.

The son of Mossman won once for previous trainer Frank Maynard in August 2025 and has had four starts for Coetzee since November 2025, albeit unplaced in Class 4 level over the 1,200m, 1,400m and 1,600m.

“Not at all surprised he won. The 1,600m is the correct trip for him and he was just short of his best in previous runs,” said Coetzee of the former Macau-based galloper.

“We wanted him to sit in fourth, and the rider (Syafifie Zailuddin) had plenty underneath him. I could see he was travelling the best, so I was already confident he could win before the turn.

“We’ll take it race by race with him. He’s probably even better over the 1,800m and the 2,000m. His legs are clean and it’s only a matter of getting him onto the right distances.”

Angled out wide shortly after turning for home, Snow Storm finished strongly under Syafifie to beat Flying Fighter (How Yang) into second.

Coetzee was also delighted to see Winning Stride – in the familiar yellow-and-green diagonal stripes – take out the Enrich Stakes A event for the Fairdeal Stable.

He has been associated with the well-known stable – started by the late Singaporean businessman Terry Lee in the late 1980s and now owned by his daughter Theresa – but now trains only Winning Stride, who had his first start for him in a similar race on Dec 28, 2025.

The Wrote seven-year-old finished fifth to Leong Ma Biscuit over the 1,200m trip then, which Coetzee thought was a bit short as well.

“I thought the trip was a touch short in his last start, even the 1,400m today too, but we gave him a chance,” he said.

“He suffered mild injury in both his front legs in Kuala Lumpur, so he rested for about seven months before his first run for me, but he was 99 per cent well when he came to me (from Richard Lines) in November last year.

“(Jockey) KC (Kam Chong) Wong gave him a very good ride, and I thought he could hold off the other horse (Man Of Action) to win.

“I’m very pleased with him and it was nice to win for Theresa Lee of the Fairdeal Stable, whose racing colours are so famous in Malaysia and Singapore.

“He won on a firm track today, and we’ll have to see how he pulls up tomorrow before anything next.”

The versatile grey gelding, who has won three times previously over the 1,200m, 1,600m and 1,800m, held off Man Of Action (Aify Yahaya) to get up by half a length.

Newly licensed Ipoh trainer Yan Weng Kuan – who was former assistant trainer to the retired Ismadi Ismail – quickly got off the mark with Village Tycoon’s ($40) 1¾ -length victory in the ISM Mari Lane Stakes, a Class 5B contest (1,600m) after his sole runner Lucky Lyle finished second in the season’s opening meeting on Jan 4.

sharonzhang@sph.com.sg