Dunderdale eyes 3YO Sprint Championship for Mega Ace

KUALA LUMPUR – Trainer Simon Dunderdale will go to the 3YO Sprint Championship (1,200m) with Mega Ace after he made all the running to claim the RM62,000 (S$20,000) Mitavite Asia Cup (1,100m) at Sungai Besi on May 23.

With Benny Woodworth up, the Earthlight gelding won by a nose from the David Kok-trained Pacific Energy (Lim Shung Uai), who was cutting him down with every stride in the final 100m, but Mega Ace ($17) held him off by a nose.

Topweight Pacific Vampire (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) finished third another 1½ lengths away in that Supreme A event which underscored the strength of Mega Ace’s opposition.

Owned by the Mega Captain Stable, Mega Ace has won five times in eight previous starts over 1,020m to 1,200m, including two victories at Class 3 level.

The three-year-old Australian-bred went with the pace but faded to finish down the field in the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) won by Fortune Tree on March 29. Still, he bounced back quickly to win his last start in a Class 3 contest (1,020m) on April 25.

Dunderdale was pleased with Mega Ace’s run at his second test up against the “big boys”.

“He is the best three-year-old in the country and proved that today,” said the 2024 Malaysia champion trainer.

“He will now be set for the 3YO (Sprint) Championship.”

Mega Ace jumped swiftly and set the pace on the wet track after a heavy downpour. He held a clear lead till the 100m until Pacific Energy pounced on him.

Woodworth, who has now ridden Mega Ace six times for five wins, said the trip suited the fleet-footed gelding, but had his concerns when it comes to the 3YO Sprint Championship on June 14.

“I thought I lost the race at the line,” said Woodworth, who was at the double after the Dunderdale-trained Squeaking surprised at big odds of $112 in the Class 5 race (1,275m) earlier.

“He is the fastest over 1,100m but might be a little suspect over 1,200m. But he will be up against his own age group.

“He did it the hard way on the wet track which, albeit, was drying up a little bit after the rain.”

Open to three-year-olds, the feature event is followed by the 3YO Mile Championship (1,600m) – a distance Mega Ace has not yet ventured on – on July 19.

However, Mega Ace’s regular partner might miss out on the ride in the 3YO Sprint Championship as he was later suspended for failing to ride Flying Nemo to the satisfaction of stewards in the penultimate Class 4B contest over 1,500m (see other report).

Trained by Tiang Kim Choi, Koondakaara appreciated a slightly longer trip than his previous outings to capture the RM100,000 Baby Pery Cup, a Class 3 race over 1,300m.

At his first outing after a recent stable transfer to Tiang from Jason Ong’s, the Delago Deluxe gelding came from well back in the running to finish fourth to Banker’s Boss in his first attempt in a Class 3 race (1,100m) on May 10.

Ridden by Uzair Sharudin, Koondakaara was the first to break but was quickly eased back to settle behind the pace.

It was the Frank Maynard-trained Fright (Harmeet Singh Gill) who took up the running to lead from Eruption (Liam Riordan) and Koondakaara, but a very keen Duma (Wong Kam Chong) moved up swiftly to sit in second as the field raced past the 800m.

Fright was still three lengths clear at the 200m but Koondakaara ($34) slowly wore him down in the run home to win by ½ length. Pacific Pery (Bernardo Pinheiro) finished well to take third.

Tiang said the light weight of 52.5kg and the wet track helped the son of Gingerbreadman.

“The light weight and the track conditions suited him today,” he said.

“He has also improved since his last run.”

Uzair, who has also ridden the Joe Giovanni-owned four-year-old twice previously, said a change of riding tactics also did the trick.

“He used to race in front but found it hard to finish it off,” he said.

“He was also keen to go today but I held him back as per our intention to come from off the pace and only made our move in the straight.

“The horse has also improved a lot since I last rode him.”

At the May 24 meeting, 2025 Group 1 Coronation Cup (1,600m) winner Omniarch ($27) – then known as Good Star – bounced back to form with a hard-earned victory in the highlight Metro A race (1,700m) under Jose de Souza for trainer Richard Lines.
SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE