Ong’s new boys in charge

Trainer Jason Ong’s small team of horses were in flowing form at the barrier trials run off at the Selangor Turf Club on Aug 11.

On a track rated “good”, three of his four runners won their hit-outs while the fourth slotted into third spot.

It was a good morning for the former Kranji trainer who, by his lofty standards, has, to date, had a rather modest haul of 30 winners for the season. The Singaporean won the Malaysia trainer’s premiership at his first full season in 2025.

But it is all about what is to come and his three winners to come out of the trials, War Finale, Pacific Hawk and Pacific Royal, look capable of bringing cheer to the camp. Even the third-placed Pacific Eagle, a new filly, could turn into another handy addition.

None have been entered for the 13-race meeting coming up at Sungai Besi on Aug 16. But, they will be worth watching on their debuts.

Taking it from the top, War Finale opened proceedings with a stylish win in the first trial.

Ridden by apprentice jockey Fikri Ismail, the Frosted five-year-old showed fighting qualities when beating the 102-point rater, Lucky Magic (Haikal Hanif) by a short head. Both winner and runner-up made sweeping runs from the 300m mark.

War Finale stopped the clock at 59.25sec which turned out to be the fastest time of the morning.

Owned by the Warplan Stable who gained fame from the exploits of their champion War Affair, War Finale has yet to feature in a race in Malaysia.

But until being flown out from Australia to join Ong’s establishment, War Finale raced 12 times Down Under as Valiant Bomb for two wins over the middle distances of 1,500m and 1,600m.

If War Finale had to fight for victory, Pacific Hawk (Lim Shung Uai) had a walk in the park when winning the second trial of the morning.

Also a newcomer, the Blue Point four-year-old demolished his rivals by a massive 10 lengths.

Like his stablemate, Pacific Hawk – who was running with blinkers and pacifiers – went under a minute, clocking 59.39sec for his run.

Pacific Hawk who holds a rating of 56, was having his second trial since arriving in Malaysia on May 30.

In his first show in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 4, he went down by a neck to Gold Medal Madam, who clocked 59.13sec.

Back in Australia where Pacific Hawk did his racing in the state of Victoria as Burleigh, he won a 1,206m race at the Terang Racecourse.

As for Pacific Royal, he beat Eastern Barracks (Fikri) by three parts of a length when running the 1,000m on the sand in 1min 2.42sec. After leading from the 600m mark, he took the shortest route home under Lim.

Now a four-year-old, the son of King’s Legacy had an uneventful debut in Kuala Lumpur on July 26 when he ran sixth to Triumph Banker’s in a 1,020m sprint.

Pacific Royal arrived at his new home on March 23 after having run five races as Nothing But Net in New South Wales, Australia where he won a 1,000m race at Goulburn on May 30, 2025.

Incidentally, the two horses he beat at this Aug 11 trial have been entered for the races on Aug 16.

Eastern Barracks will carry topweight of 59kg in the Class 4 sprint over the 1,275m while Ocean Jupiter will tackle the 1,400m for Class 5 (A) runners.

Both runners are trained by Ananthen Kuppan and both have already won races at the Selangor Turf Club.

Eastern Barracks is a three-time winner while Ocean Jupiter has won four times, twice in Kranji.

brian@sph.com.sg