Heart Of Fire blows hot at Kuala Lumpur barrier trials
All Too Hard 6YO breaks minute mark when leading all the way
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Heart Of Fire (Gordon Lim) clearing out for an easy win in his barrier trial at Sungai Besi on Oct 28.
PHOTO: SELANGOR TURF CLUB
Brian Miller
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It has truly been a while between drinks, but trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong and the Tangi Stable are not the complaining types.
After all, Heart Of Fire has been diligently paying for his board and lodging.
Since putting together his third win on Jan 4, Heart Of Fire has not set the track ablaze. But, sure as ever, he has been doggedly working hard, like that showing at the trials on the morning of Oct 28.
Ridden by pre-apprentice jockey Gordon Lim and having to clear the outermost gate in that field of seven, he was away in a flash.
Indeed, such was his early pace that Heart Of Fire had, by the time the field made the first turn on the far side, opened a five-length lead.
Elite Prince, the mount of Shafiq Rizuan, tried to narrow the gap but the leader just kept on throwing dirt onto him.
A furlong to go, the win was neatly signed, sealed and delivered as Heart To Fire was allowed to coast to the line with two lengths to spare.
Although eased up, the All Too Hard six-year-old still managed to go under the minute mark, clocking 59.95sec for the 1,000m trip.
With three wins, a couple of seconds and a third placing from 16 race starts, Heart Of Fire could be on track for another nice payday.
Although beaten into second place, Elite Prince lost no marks. He was always up there and although not able to keep pace with Heart Of Fire’s relentless gallop, he held his ground and stayed second for the entire trip.
Still a four-year-old, Elite Prince is developing into something really special.
To date, the son of Bon Hoffa has won twice and placed second in his four starts for his trainer Richard Lim.
That last win, which came on June 1, was the second leg of a race-to-race double and he did it in style, leading from barrier to box when beating Duma by 2½ lengths.
Earlier, on May 18, when ridden by Uzair Sharudin, Elite Prince was obliged to race wide but, even when disadvantaged, he still managed to win the race by almost two lengths.
Right now, Elite Prince looks to be on course for a third career win. Watch for when he next goes to the races.
The second and last trial of the morning went the way of Eastern Barracks.
Saddled by Joseph Leck for the Shengjun Stable, the four-year-old New Zealand-bred by Tivaci made every post a winning one for apprentice Bahauddin Sharudin. He eventually went to the line a half-length winner from Ebullient – the mount of Haikal Hanif.
The David Kok-trained Hey Boss (Benny Woodworth), who was up on the pace from the get-go, stayed around to hold down that third spot.
While it was a good win by Eastern Barracks who has had three trials but has yet to face the starter in a race, the real “winner” of the trial was the fourth-placed runner, Storm Deity.
With the reins in the hands of Akmazani Mazuki, Storm Deity made a mess of the start and was hopelessly away.
Indeed, when he did eventually get into stride, he was at least six lengths behind the second last horse.
Into the home stretch and Storm Deity was still out of the picture frame.
But, with 250m to travel he began to grow wings and, weaving his way between a line of four horses, he went on to claim fourth spot.
While the Mongolian Khan seven-year-old has not won a race in 26 attempts, he has made the board in four of his last six outings.
It tells us that we should “follow the storm” as there could be a win somewhere in the not too distant future.
