Star Eighty Three set to shine again
Trainer Johnny Lim’s Banker’s Happy and Banker’s Honor also toss in smart gallops
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Star Eighty Three (Aify Yahaya) claiming the Class 4B race (1,020m) at Sungai Besi on March 28. The five-year-old gelding worked well on April 7.
Photo: SLTC
Brian Miller
Three gallopers who are on track to post race-to-race victories emerged as top performers at the gallops on the morning of April 7.
Banker’s Happy and Banker’s Honor were the pair from the powerful Banker’s Stable, an emerging outfit in Malaysia since last season, that caught the eye.
And there was also Star Eighty Three, who races in the colours of the Chase Dreams Stable.
Trained by Wayne Lim, Star Eighty Three, who clocked 37.2sec for his 600m gallop, arrived in Malaysia with a solid record of one win, three seconds and one third from six starts in Victoria, Australia when known as Coffin Dodger.
However, the five-year-old son of Sidestep took some time to settle into his new surroundings. It was at his 11th outing that he broke through for his first success.
That was in a Class 4B race (1,020m) on March 28. Ridden by Aify Yahaya, Star Eighty Three came off third spot at the top of the straight to win by 1¾ lengths.
His most recent gallop does suggest that he is holding form and he could be the one they have to beat in the Class 4A race (1,020m) at Sungai Besi on April 12.
As for trainer Johnny Lim Boon Thong’s “Bankers”, Banker’s Happy breezed over the 600m in 37sec while Banker’s Honor made light of the yielding track when covering the distance in 38.
Both are in rattling form, so do not be surprised if they are sent out at short odds in their respective races on April 12.
Banker’s Happy was awesome when winning second-up in Malaysia on March 29.
That day, when ridden by Joe Kamaruddin, the Capitalist four-year-old went all the way in the Class 4A event (1,400m).
The Australian-bred arrived in Lim’s yard with a record of two wins over 1,300m and 1,500m in Australia when known as Full Metal Jacket.
Hence, the 1,500m he has to cover in the upcoming Class 3 contest looks to be a perfect fit.
Another four-year-old, Banker’s Honor’s last-start win on March 29 was over the 1,800m.
Under Farhan Ghazali, the son of Ocean Park tracked the leader all the way until the furlong marker when he swept to the lead to win by a neck in the Class 4A race.
He will line up in the Supreme C event over a longer 2,000m next, but connections will know that he has the stamina to see out the trip.
After all, back in Australia where the New Zealand-bred did his early racing as Storm Park, he won a race over 1,600m and finished second thrice over 2,000m and 2,100m.
The grey gelding should give a good account of himself third-up.
A couple of runners with assignments on April 11 also showed good action on the training track.
Jungle King clocked 36.9sec for the 600m while Defeater went over in 36.4sec.
Without winning, both gallopers have been running good races recently and they deserve their day in the spotlight.
Trained by Ananthen Kuppan, Jungle King’s last five runs have produced two seconds, a third and a fourth. The Makfi nine-year-old is shaping up for a win in the Class 4B race (1,020m).
As for Defeater, the Tiang Kim Choi-trained four-year-old ran a good race last time on March 28 when third to Lucky Eight One in a Class 4B contest (1,200m).
It was the third time he had to settle for a minor placing in his last four starts. The Unite And Conquer gelding too deserves a winning break in the upcoming Class 4B race (1,200m).
