Fortune Rising can scale new heights in Selangor Silver
Trainer Cheng’s unbeaten 4YO galloper chasing his first ‘black type’ win in KL
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The Winson Cheng Han Yong-trained four-year-old Fortune Rising (Lim Weng Hooi) taking out the Class 2 contest (1,100m) at Sungai Besi on July 11.
PHOTO: SLTC
Brian Miller
When Fortune Rising trots onto the Sungei Besi track on July 26, he will be shooting for an unbeaten run of four wins in a row.
Trained by Winson Cheng Han Yong, the Alabama Express gelding seems good to go in the featured Selangor Silver (1,300m).
The stars seem aligned for another brave showing from him, and his work on the morning of July 21 was indicative of a horse who has his mind on the job.
Sent out on a track which was rated “yielding”, Fortune Rising did a brisk trot before turning on the style to run the 600m in 37.3sec.
With three wins over the 1,100m and 1,200m trips previously, the four-year-old is a reliable sort.
When racing as Shangri La Express in Australia, he won two races at Randwick and Rosehill Garden, and Fortune Rising has not put a hoof wrong since arriving in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 17.
He won his first trial on Feb 24, clocking 59.95sec for the 1,000m when he was still under the care of trainer Richard Lim.
Two weeks later on March 8, Fortune Rising won on debut in an Open Maiden contest (1,200m) by an easy 1½ lengths.
He was back on the job in a Supreme B race (1,200m) on March 29 and beat Banker’s Emperor by three parts of a length.
Fortune Rising was off the scene for 93 days when he switched to Cheng’s yard.
He returned on June 30 for a trial which he won in 1min 00.04sec.
Then came that last run in a competitive Class 2 race (1,100m) on July 7, when he was backed down to prohibitive odds.
He justified that confidence, romping in by a convincing 4¼ lengths.
In that process, Fortune Rising also gave Cheng’s apprentice jockey Lim Weng Hooi his first victory since his riding debut in June.
Come July 26 at his fourth Malaysian start, the Lee Swee Eng-owned galloper could beat his peers again for another success.
Cheng and his connections could also be in for a good day at the races as they have another smart one in Fortune Tree.
Entered for the RM 1 million (S$315,000) Selangor Mile (1,600m), he worked with stablemate Al Rocket to clock 37sec for the 600m. That too, was after some brisk trotting.
A four-year-old New Zealand-bred, Fortune Tree is a five-time winner from 11 starts. He finished second on three occasions and, to date, has just once missed making the top four.
His last win came in the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) on March 29 when he nosed out Duma to score.
He looked like he could double up at his last start in the 4YO Sprint Championship on June 28 but, after leading the pack for most of the 1,200m trip, he was caught close home by Pacific Energy.
The mile might seem a tad too long but it was on Jan 24 – then trained by Lim – the son of Ardrossan ran second to Irish Goodbye in a Supreme B race over the trip.
The Selangor Mile will see 16 of Malaysia’s best four-year-olds in action and Fortune Tree will be right there in that mix.
Also looking to shoot for victory is Jinling Starblitz.
From Ricky Choi Chun Wai’s yard, he worked with gusto, running the 600m in 38.4sec with Benny Woodworth in the saddle.
An Irish-bred, Jinling Starblitz has had four starts in the silks of the Royal Apex Stable and two of those were winning ones.
Making his Malaysian debut on April 12, the Inns Of Court four-year-old came from a long way back to win that Open Maiden race (1,250m) in a fighting finish.
Three weeks later on May 3, Jinling Starblitz delivered the goods again, beating Pacific Fighter by ¾ length in a Novice event (1,400m) second-up.
Jinling Starblitz will now attempt to make it three wins from five starts in the Selangor Silver.
He appears to be on an upward trajectory and Choi will be banking on him running home ahead of the rest.
