Sir Ruby springs pleasant surprise

KUALA LUMPUR – Sir Ruby overcame a wide draw to create a mild upset in winning RM150,000 (S$47,800) NZB Ready To Run Graduate Cup (1,400m) at Sungai Besi on April 5.

With Mega Valor all the rage in the race confined to three-year-olds, the King Of Comedy galloper started at generous odds of $72.

Trained by Joseph Leck who paid NZ$60,000 (S$43,900) for him at the sales, Sir Ruby (Harmeet Singh Gill) benefited from a sizzling pace up front as he settled down some six to seven lengths from the lead.

Mega Valor (Benny Woodworth) jumped brilliantly to a clear early lead, before Shadow Dancer (Haikal Hanif) headed him off making the turn out of the back straight.

Superb Winner (Aify Yahaya) settled in third, followed by Capetian (Kaidan Brewer), Mega Crusader (Ruzaini Supien) and Sir Ruby. Mega Skye (Wong Kam Chong) was second-last at that stage.

Shadow Dancer continued to lead round the bend but drifted out wide, allowing Mega Valor to pick up the lead again on his inside at the top of the straight.

Mega Crusader moved up to second, ahead of Shadow Dancer and Capetian, with Mega Skye, Superb Winner and Sir Ruby not far away.

Mega Valor was holding off Mega Crusader at the 100m when first, Sir Ruby, then Mega Skye started to pounce on the leader.

Sir Ruby hit the front close to home to hold off the fast-finishing Mega Skye by a neck. Mega Valor held on for third.

“What an incredible day,” said Leck, who was not on course to witness the big win.

“Despite the challenging draw we got, Sir Ruby showed unbelievable grit and determination to win.”

Now a three-time winner from seven starts, all in Kuala Lumpur, Sir Ruby ran third on debut in September. He got off the mark in a Restricted Maiden contest (1,300m) on Oct 26, following up with another win, over 1,500m in Class 4 a month later.

After an unplaced outing in December, he was given a spell and brought back with a tune-up run over 1,100m on March 15.

“I had a perfect jump-out and the field was stretched out with the leaders going hard at it,” said Gill, who has ridden Sir Ruby in all his starts bar the last.

“I managed to bring them back to me and a gap opened up nicely in the straight.

“I got through and the horse went to the line well.”

The 10 races on the card were an even affair, with many trainers and jockeys picking up top prize.

The exception was the in-form jockey Wong, who greeted the judge twice – aboard Haleeda ($15) and Thousand Mile Eye ($31).

The brace enabled the Malaysian – who claimed the Ipoh premiership in 2025 with 21 wins – to extend his lead on the national log.

Wong now sits on top on 18 wins, three clear of Uzair Sharudin. SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE