Superb Winner is exactly that

It is always exciting to watch a close fight to the finish. A heads up-heads down battle down the home stretch – and guessing who will come up tops.

By the same token, it is just as fun to see a thoroughbred dominate proceedings to the extent that one simply has to wonder just what the winning margin would be.

While there were no nail-biting, close finishes at the trials which were held at the Selangor Turf Club on the morning of Jan 27, sure as ever, a runaway winner did turn heads.

As his name so aptly suggested, Superb Winner ruled the turf from the get-go to the finish.

Featuring in the last of four trials run off at Sungai Besi, Superb Winner would have had tongues wagging when he blitzed his nearest rival to win his hit-out by at least 20 lengths.

The manner in which Superb Winner whacked his rivals under Joe Kamaruddin was merciless.

Indeed, as race caller Devon Pretorius so rightfully commented, it was “probably the biggest barrier trial win we have seen in a very long time”.

Such was the winning margin that his trainer Mahadi Taib might not have noticed that he had, indeed, saddled the quinella when a yet-to-be-named Vespa progeny from his yard took second spot.

But, on the morning it was all about the winner who clocked 1min 02.29sec for his jaunt on the sand.

Superb Winner is a three-year-old New Zealand-bred by Super Seth and, until joining Mahadi’s yard, he was trained by Ricky Choi.

To date, he has had one start on July 27 when he turned in a decent race, finishing a 1¼ lengths third to Singha Bay.

The post-race report stated that he raced greenly and that he was taken wide at the 700m mark, but from what he showed at his trial, he has improved out of sight.

Another good winner on the day was Limitless Spear.

Trained by Siva Kumar for the Nobel Racing Stable, Limitless Spear was shaping up a most unlikely winner at the top of the home straight.

For one thing, the son of Impending was near-last in that seven-horse line-up and, with attention focused on the three front runners – Navarre, Land Lover and Pacific Fighter – few would have noticed Limitless Spear as he fashioned a run.

Brought wide for clear running room by his rider Fikri Ismail, Limitless Spear began to gain on the leaders.

It did not take him long to reel them in and at the furlong mark he had claimed the lead.

He then pulled away, eventually beating Pacific Fighter by 1¼ lengths. He ran the trip on grass in 1min 0.59sec.

A five-year-old chestnut, Limitless Spear’s best showing to date was a fourth placing at his last start which was a 1,400m race on Dec 21.

This come-from-behind win at the trials should top him up sufficiently for a first career victory. Watch him at his next start.

Family Delight, who won the second hit-out of the morning, was at the trials by order of the racing stewards who deemed he turned in a poor performance at his last start.

That day on Dec 20, Family Delight sat in a handy third until turning into the home stretch.

He then gave up ground, tossed in the towel and eventually beat just one home.

Until then, the Dundeel eight-year-old had won one race, a Class 4A (1,600m) at Sungai Besi, almost a year ago, on Feb 2, 2025, and had run second twice in Malaysia.

Family Delight is getting long in the tooth but he can still raise a gallop.

His overseas record – where he has won five races from 40 race starts in New Zealand and Macau – does remind us not to dismiss him too casually.

brian@sph.com.sg