Pacific Energy throws his hat into the Tunku Gold Cup ring
Trainer David Kok’s youngster clocks a fast 58.14sec when winning his trial on March 17
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With his ears pricked, Pacific Energy (Bahauddin Sharudin), on the left, narrowly taking the first barrier trial by a short head from Banker's Dowager (Nuqman Rozi, not in picture) at Sungai Besi on March 17. On his left is Bintang Sixty-One (Jose de Souza) who finished third one length back.
PHOTO: SELANGOR TURF CLUB
Brian Miller
With the Selangor Turf Club taking a Hari Raya break on March 21 and 22, one would have thought that the horses stabled at Sungai Besi would get to enjoy a long weekend.
No such luck. With the Group 1 Equine Sanctuary Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) looming large on March 29, it was business as usual for some, especially those with assignments in the rich RM300,000 (S$98,000) sprint.
A handful of Sungai Besi’s finest were on the track bright and early on the morning of March 17 and to really get the action revved up, racegoers at trackside got to see five of the Gold Cup hopefuls strut their stuff on a track which was rated “good”.
Among them was 2024 Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m) winner Antipodean, Malaysia’s second-highest rated galloper on 110 points, two shy of its top seed Platinum Emperor on 112.
Then there was 92-pointer Yes Man, Mega Khan (the late Noah Khan) on 83, Bransom on 79 and Pacific Energy, who, in the numbers game, would look rather low with his 73 points.
But, like they say about age, it is just a number. Furthermore, in racing, ratings points can sometimes cloud one’s judgment.
So it was, on the morning of March 17, with attention locked and focused on the “big boys”, Pacific Energy beat them all.
While there are no prizes for winning trials, Pacific Energy certainly gave his rivals and their connections plenty to think about.
After all, he did not just beat his rivals to the punch.
The Super Seth four-year-old won with great authority, clocking 58.14sec for the 1,000m on the grass track. He also showed great fighting spirit when, champing at the bit, he battled on to beat Banker’s Dowager by a short head.
Another one from the powerful Pacific Stable, Pacific Energy gets into the Tunku Gold Cup picture on the back of winning three of his last five outings.
In all three victories, he stalked the leader like a predator and only made the kill close to home, which was exactly how his trial panned out.
Pacific Energy (Bahauddin Sharudin) jumped cleanly out of the gates to settle in the slipstream of Banker’s Dowager (Nuqman Rozi), Bransom (Kaidan Brewer) and Yes Man (Shafiq Rizuan).
Meanwhile, Antipodean (Uzair Sharudin) and Mega Khan (Ruzaini Supien) made up the rear posse. Quiet and seemingly contented, that was where they stayed.
Not so, Pacific Energy. He was all business and when push did come to shove, he muscled his way to victory in the home straight.
A winner of two races at Caulfield, the David Kok-trained runner will be ideally suited to the Cup trip and he could be the one charging home to take the first leg of the Malaysian Triple Crown.
The trials also produced three runaway winners, Banker’s Rising, Aeras and Tangesh.
The standout was Banker’s Rising, who blitzed them all in the third trial when running away to an untouchable 12-length victory on the sand.
Malaysian racegoers have yet to see the Frosted three-year-old at his best but they did get a glimpse of his potential when he scored a popular win at his racing debut on Feb 28.
Backed down to short odds, he came off second spot at the furlong mark to beat Yes Boss Yes by a neck over the 1,200m.
Trainer Tiang Kim Choi seems to have a really good one who should be winning many more races in the colours of the mighty Banker’s Stable.
Aeras, a Zacinto seven-year-old, followed up on Banker’s Rising demolition job, taking his hit-out for trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong by beating stablemate Mr Wind (Troy See) by six lengths.
Then came the run by the Charles Leck-trained Tangesh (Lim Shung Uai), a Deep Field seven-year-old, who closed proceedings with a 6½-length win in the last.
