Banker’s gears up for Mile Victory

There is still some time to go before the running of the rich Selangor Mile on July 26.

But though the RM1 million (S$317,000) race is more than a fortnight away, trainer Johnny Lim Boon Thong and the powerful Banker’s Stable cannot be blamed for being confident of lifting the trophy.

Right now they are in it with a strong team and it was at the trials on July 7 that they showed off two of their aces.

Contesting the first trial of the morning, Banker’s Victory was humming at the end of his 1,000m sprint which he won in a super time of 59.16sec.

Also in the trial and not asked to do too much was stablemate Banker’s Honor who, under an easy ride by Joe Kamaruddin, took fifth in that eight-horse affair.

But on the day it was all about Banker’s Victory.

Jumping from one of the outermost gates and ridden by Farhan Ghazali, he was never in a hurry to stamp his superiority on his rivals.

For much of the trip, he stayed in the slipstream of the Winson Cheng Han Yong-trained He Man (Haikal Hanif) and only made his move at the furlong mark.

Clicked into action, Banker’s Victory lengthened strides to score a fighting neck win.

But while the margin was narrow, the So You Think four-year-old won with a load of authority.

Already a two-time winner from just seven starts, he scored his last win over the Mile trip on April 26. Earlier, when posting his inaugural Malaysian win, Banker’s Victory won over 1,500m.

Furthermore, his overseas record before being flown out to Malaysia shows that his two wins as Pat’s Bro in Victoria, Australia were recorded over the 1,612m and the mile.

Granted, Banker’s Victory’s two Malaysian wins have been in Class 3, but he is definitely on the up.

As for Banker’s Honor, two of his three wins have been over 1,800m and 2,000m. But with his last success on June 7 over the 1,600m, the Ocean Park three-year-old should run a good mile come July 26.

Lim, who was well represented at the trials, owned the second hit-out of the morning.

He had four runners in that eight-horse line-up and he made those numbers count.

Big News, owned by the Cat Racing Stable, eventually romped home an easy winner from stablemate Banker’s Strong.

Yet to score in four outings, Big News did show potential when second in an Open Maiden (1,200m).

At his trial, the American-bred three-year-old allowed Italian Revolution (Ruzaini Supien) to call the shots before turning on the charm when they were 300m from home.

Thereafter, the only question remaining was by how far jockey Nuqman Rozi would let him score.

With Big News in full flow, the answer was three lengths, doing it in a time of 1min 0.38sec, passing his blinkers test at the same time.

Runner-up Banker’s Strong was having a bleeder’s test which he also passed. He was barred from racing for three months after suffering a bleeding attack on April 6.

A one-time Australian winner (as Gulfstate) who has yet to win in Malaysia, the Pride Of Dubai four-year-old can now resume racing.

Aside from Lim, trainer Nick Selvan also enjoyed a good day with two winners from three runners over the five trials.

Contarelli won Trial 3 while Prince Lonhro scored a fighting neck win in the fourth. Both gallopers were ridden by Jackson Low Kang Cheng and were also both former Kranji gallopers trained by Donna Logan.

In the third trial, Contarelli was always a factor. When the four-time winner made his move at the 300m mark, his closest rival Mega Velocity (Benny Woodworth) tossed in the towel.

The Caravaggio four-year-old would go on to win by four lengths in 1:00.88.

Prince Lonhro did not have it so easy. But the Lonhro six-year-old made it from start to finish in 1:01.18, eventually beating an unnamed runner by a neck.

Both Prince Lonhro and Contarelli are worth watching at their respective engagements on July 11.

Contarelli will contest a Class 5 race (1,300m), while Prince Lonhro will chase a fourth win in another Class 5 race (1,500m).

brian@sph.com.sg