Nik Shahronnizam has a day out in Ipoh
Malaysian apprentice rides treble, including two for leading trainer Asogan
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Apprentice jockey Nik Shahronnizam saluting the Ipoh crowd after steering home the second pin of his riding treble on Dec 6, Man Of Action, who took the Enrich Stakes A (1,400m) for trainer Asogan Thangaraju (right). His two other winners were Golden Cup for Asogan and Harveywallbanger for Richard Lines.
PHOTO: Hew Fee Kit
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IPOH – Malaysian apprentice jockey Nik Shahronnizam claimed the riding honours with a treble at his home track in Ipoh on Dec 6 to bring his season’s haul to 16 wins.
The three-kilo-claiming Shahronnizam, 25, landed back-to-back races on Golden Cup ($19) and Man Of Action ($15) for trainer Asogan Thangaraju before wrapping up the Saturday meeting aboard $85 outsider Harveywallbanger for Richard Lines in the last event of the 11-race programme.
Asogan also continues to pile up the winners, making him the top trainer in Ipoh with 32 winners so far this season.
Man Of Action was a recent transfer from Kevin Coetzee, who saddled the Sebring six-year-old to three wins early in the season.
Man Of Action’s win in the RM30,000 (S$9,400) Enrich Stakes A race over 1,400m followed his unplaced run in the Group 1 Coronation Cup (1,600m) which was won by Good Star on Nov 16.
Shahronnizam might have visited the winner’s circle the most on Saturday, but one horse laid claim to an even more “winningest” record on the day, Talkingtalkingguru.
The Telperion five-year-old might not be racing in the top tier but he now holds the title for the most number of wins in the country this season.
A confident ride by apprentice Syafifie Zailuddin saw the Coetzee-trained Talkingtalkingguru ($17) just hold on to win by a neck from the fast-finishing Who Love To Dance (Lim Shung Uai) in the RM26,000 Class 4A (1,200m) handicap. That was his fourth consecutive win and his second in Class 4.
All his earlier wins have been in Class 5, with the first two coming under Brian Dean and the next five with Coetzee.
“He (Talkingtalkingguru) just carried so much more condition in the last couple of months,” said Coetzee who was referring to the gelding’s body weight, from 459kg in September (at the start of his winning run) to 473kg now.
With regular partner Saddam Hussein Saari recovering from a broken shoulder in a fall at the last meeting here on Nov 16, Syafifie proved to be a competent replacement.
Syafifie took the shortest route, keeping Talkingtalkingguru on the rails all the way.
Sweet Love set a brisk pace in the soft going and was clear leader from newcomer Magic Mandy with a gap to Crazy Love, Ragnar and Talkingtalkingguru racing in a line.
Sweet Love led into the straight ahead of Magic Mandy who quickly came under pressure. Talkingtalkingguru moved up to third before racing up on the inside of the leader to draw level at the 200m and hit the front with 100m to go with Who Love To Dance gunning for the two front runners.
Talkingtalkingguru just held on by a neck from Who Love To Dance, who was racing in Ipoh for the first time after 12 unplaced runs at Sungai Besi.
With the win, Syafifie took his tally for the season to 20 victories.
Lim did not take long to bounce back from that narrow defeat on Who Love To Dance to combine with his trainer-brother Shung You on Colonel Son in the very next race.
A surprising runner-up in the Singapore Pools Trophy (1,100m) on Nov 16, the Pariah six-year-old was unsurprisingly hammered in at $12 in the easier RM26,000 Cosmo C over 1,100m, and duly delivered, beating Wilsing (Harmeet Singh Gill) by one length.
“He was toying with them today,” said Lim. TURFONLINE
