Tiang has one for KL’s richest race
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The Tiang Kim Choi-trained four-year-old Banker's Kingdom (Farhan Ghazali) winning the Cosmo C race (1,600m) easily in Ipoh on April 19.
Photo: Hew Fee Kit
Sharon Zhang
Banker’s Kingdom impressed Tiang Kim Choi with an effortless victory in the RM35,000 (S$11,200) Cosmo C race (1,600m) in Ipoh on April 19.
The Malaysian trainer was expecting the Brazen Beau four-year-old to win given his good form recently, but he did not expect the Banker’s Stable-owned gelding to blow his rivals away in the highlight race of the day.
“I expected him to win, but not so easily. The winning time of 1min 34.6sec was very fast too,” said Tiang.
“He has been in good condition, and in the small field of five today, I told Farhan (Ghazali) to sit him in a handy position, just behind the leader. He rode him well.
“He led last time over the mile but finished just ¾ lengths behind Banker’s Beautiful.
“Then we saw the Cosmo C race over the same trip and, since it suits him, we ran him in Ipoh today.”
A two-time winner (1,500m and 1,600m) from nine starts in Australia when known as My Friday Beau, Banker’s Kingdom arrived in Kuala Lumpur in late 2025.
He opened his Malaysian account third-up in a Class 4A contest (1,400m) at Sungai Besi on Feb 7 by 4¼ lengths, before finishing third to Banker’s Beautiful – trained by Johnny Lim Boon Thong – in a Supreme C event on March 15 last start.
This time, Banker’s Kingdom jumped well from barrier one in the field of five, but Farhan opted to take a sit behind leader Leong Ma Biscuit (Harmeet Singh Gill).
The Lim-trained Banker’s Amazing (Johari Kamaruddin) followed on the outside of Banker’s Kingdom in third, while Winning Stride (Wong Kam Chong) and Snow Storm (Saddam Saari) settled in fourth and fifth respectively.
With the leader and Banker’s Amazing swinging out wide as they approach the straight, Banker’s Kingdom found acres of land on the inside and quickly swept to the front.
Leong Ma Biscuit knocked up soon. Banker’s Amazing and Winning Stride made ground without really threatening, leaving Banker’s Kingdom ($12) to sail home to a crushing victory of 7¼ lengths over Winning Stride in the end.
Banker’s Amazing held on for third. The winning time for the 1,600m on the long course was 1 min 34.6sec.
Tiang trains about 15 horses for the Banker’s Stable. He has chalked up nine wins this season, with four of them coming from the Singaporean outfit.
They are Banker’s Kingdom, who won twice in 2026, Banker’s Rising and Banker’s First, who claimed a neck-victory in the Class 3 race (1,200m) on April 12.
While Tiang may not train as many Banker’s Stable horses as Lim, he does also have a Selangor Mile hopeful in Banker’s Kingdom.
“I am looking at the Selangor Mile for him in July, so we hope he can climb up the rating ladder and go for that,” he said.
“But he would probably have one more run in between now till then. We’ll see.
“The owners are very supportive of Malaysia racing and they are buying more horses in. I am thankful for their support.”
Open to four-year-olds, the Selangor Mile (1,600m) is the richest race on the Selangor Turf Club’s racing calendar, with RM 1 million up for grabs.
It will be staged on July 26.
