Pacific Commander looks spot-on for another win
Malaysia champion trainer Ong gets on the board with only runner at KL barrier trials
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Pacific Commander (Lim Shung Uai) showing brilliant form in his barrier trial at Sungai Besi on Oct 6. The Jason Ong-trained galloper boasts five wins on his CV, including two at Kranji where he was also handled by Ong.
PHOTO: SELANGOR TURF CLUB
Brian Miller
Trainer Jason Ong, who came away with a treble at the just-concluded meeting on Oct 4, continued with his winning ways at the barrier trials run off at the Selangor Turf Club on Oct 6.
The former two-time Singapore champion trainer and reigning Malaysian champion trainer had entered just one runner – Pacific Commander – at the trials which were held on a yielding track and, as it turned out, he ended the day “one-for-one”.
Just to make things interesting, Ong’s runner beat the Simon Dunderdale-trained galloper So We Fight by two lengths.
The New Zealander Dunderdale had, on Oct 4, also saddled three winners to share training honours with the Singaporean.
In that second trial which was run off in hazy conditions, Pacific Commander and the eventual runner-up, So We Fight, dominated proceedings from the get-go.
The latter had Pacific Commander at his withers for most of the 1,000m journey on grass.
However, with just 150m to travel, jockey Lim Shung Uai urged Pacific Commander to the front and they drew away to beat So We Fight (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) by two lengths, clocking a smart time of 59.94sec for the short and sharp trip.
Witnessimpact (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) ran third, another 3½ lengths adrift.
A six-year-old Australian-bred by Written By with 48 starts across Singapore and Malaysia under his belt, Pacific Commander boasts a record of five wins, three of which came at Kranji when also under Ong’s care.
Both Pacific Commander and So We Fight were at the trials by order of the club’s veterinary team after they returned lame after their respective last starts.
Pacific Commander came undone when running third to RS Dream on April 12 while So We Fight, a three-time winner by So You Think, was found to be lame off-fore when finishing seventh to Rizzler in a 1,020m race on May 10.
The good news for both Ong and Dunderdale is that both runners passed their tests and can now resume their racing careers.
Earlier, in the first trial of the morning, three newcomers to Malaysian racing took the top three spots in that eight-horse contest.
From Cheng Han Yong’s yard, Rapid Strike (Haikal Hanif) won in a fine time of 59.71sec. The Vancouver five-year-old beat the Jason Lim-trained Apollo Sixty-One (Oscar Chavez) by half-a-length with Gilded Voyager (Mohamed Lukman), who is prepared by Wayne Lim Woei Chet, taking third spot.
It was Rapid Strike’s first trial in Malaysia and his showing would have earned him scores of fans.
Until the seven runners hit the top of the home stretch, Raid Strike was in last spot, some 10 lengths behind the early leaders, Apollo Sixty-One and Gilded Voyager.
With 300m to travel, Haikal began to fashion a run and when Rapid Strike saw daylight a furlong out, he began to lengthen strides to go and claim the win in brilliant style.
It will be interesting to see how he does on his Malaysian debut.
Mega Velocity was the fastest winner from the five trials. A three-year-old chestnut colt by Hanseatic, he was all-conquering when taking the last hit-out of the morning.
Ridden by Chavez, he breezed over the 1,000m trip in 59.53sec, beating Moon Light Shadow by 2½ lengths. Bull Fight (Ikram Jamaludin) took third spot.
Trainer Jason Lim has sent Mega Velocity to the races twice for one win, which was on debut on Aug 9. With Bernardo Pinheiro in the saddle, Mega Velocity demolished his rivals when winning that 1,200m race by almost six lengths.
With natural progression, he should go on to win more races.