Speed galore at Sungai Besi

On the morning of Sept 1 and on a track which was obviously ideal for fast gallops, five of the six trial winners at the Selangor Turf Club broke the minute mark for the 1,000m trip.

Among them, a couple finished with quite a bit still left in the tank.

Mega Khan got things rolling when, in the first trial, he clocked 58.44sec.

Ridden by Lim Shung Uai, the Swiss Ace eight-year-old was neatly into stride and at the 400m, he had put three lengths between himself and the chasing pack, led by the eventual runner-up, Trident Rising (Haikal Hanif).

Lim kept Mega Khan on a tight rein as they coasted to the line with two lengths to spare.

Formerly known as Noah Khan, the seven-time winner has been sparingly raced and has had only two runs this season.

The Jason Lim-trained galloper has, however, had four trials in 2026 and, by far, this latest gallop has been his best effort.

Not to be outdone, Lucky Belle (Wong Chin Chuen) was firing on all cylinders when she took the second hit-out in 59.84sec, showing definite promise.

The Shamus Award filly came from fourth at the top of the straight to swamp her rivals in the closing stages of the gallop.

The winning margin may have been a head from General Barrack (Fikri Ismail), but the way she fought and finished off the trial was indicative of a win – maybe even on debut.

After arriving in trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong’s barn on Jan 24, Lucky Belle was having her second trial. She will improve even further and it could pay to watch her at her Malaysian debut.

The trend continued in the third and, as it turned out, Perfect Rory – also from Lim’s yard – gave jockey Oscar Chavez an armchair ride.

The newcomer beat an unnamed runner by Jonker by 4½ lengths when clocking 59.69sec, easing up.

Like Lucky Belle, Perfect Rory could be something special when he makes his racing debut.

Jumping smartly, the Dubious three-year-old was off in a flash and was almost six lengths clear at the top of the straight before coasting to the line unchallenged.

Next to score was Smoke Head (Ikram Jamaludin), who beat an unnamed runner by Barbaric by a neck. However, the Aloysius Hamsha-trained unraced Headwater three-year-old was the only one to not beat the 60-second mark, clocking 1min 0.02sec.

But things were quickly back on track in the final two trials. Mega Maximus (Lim) took out the fifth in a time of 59.18sec which left Bingo Master (Akmazani Mazuki) to round things off with a 59.92sec win in the last.

Trained by Nick Selvan and Jerome Tan respectively, they both scored fighting wins when taking their trials by short heads.

To date, Mega Maximus has had a dozen outings for two wins, four seconds and three third placings.

The Star Turn four-year-old’s win at the trials suggests that more wins are in store.

As for Bingo Master, his last race win was on Jan 17. At eight, the son of Proisir is getting long in the tooth, but this showing at the trials might ignite a spark and spur him on to a sixth career victory.

brian@sph.com.sg