Tiang Kim Choi’s Super Manjung revels in the wet like a fish to water
Six-year-old mare strides home powerfully to take out trial No. 4
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Super Manjung (Shafiq Rizuan) racing past Dangerous Chance (Gordon Lim) to win trial No. 4 at Sungai Besi on Dec 16.
PHOTO: SELANGOR TURF CLUB
Brian Miller
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On a wet Dec 16 morning, with the track at Sungai Besi in the yielding range, it was a mare that stole the spotlight at the trials.
Super Manjung truly relished the underfoot conditions in the fourth and last trial when she came from what looked like a hopeless position at the top of the home straight to win by half a length.
Earlier in the morning, Lucky Freedom and an unnamed three-year-old by Dubious and out of Wald posted easier wins in the first and second trial by 1¼ and 1½ lengths respectively.
But, for sheer dominance, it was Super Manjung who scored top marks.
Ridden by Shafiq Rizuan, the mare from Malaysian trainer Tiang Kim Choi’s stable was snagged back soon after the start and seemed content to sit near last as the field of five raced over the initial 500m.
She was still near last at the top of the stretch, but once they headed for home, Shafiq peeled her out widest – possibly for better ground – and from there, the two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey left it to Super Manjung to figure out the finish.
The Vancouver six-year-old – who was racing with pacifiers for the first time – was in her element.
Taking the bit, she made it a line of four at the 250m mark and, once there, she charged to the front, kicking back mud on the guys who were chasing her.
The US-bred galloper eventually went to claim victory and on a track which was not made for fast times, she returned 1min 3.12sec for the 1,000m journey.
Though the winning margin and time would not have been on Tiang’s mind, he would have been pleased with the effort and desire shown by his charge.
So far, Super Manjung has just two wins from 37 starts. She claimed a Class 5A race (1,100m) on March 31, 2024, and her last win came in a Class 4B event (1,150m) on June 9 that year.
Both times, the wins came on yielding track, and Shafiq was in the irons.
Formerly known as Happy Princess when trained by Michael Clements in Singapore, she was unplaced in four starts before moving over to Tiang in late 2023.
In fairness, Super Manjung has been a trier who simply lacked that bit of luck in the racing game. At her last five starts, she has produced one second and three thirds.
The Super Stable-owned mare might be coming to hand, and richly deserves a break after a winless drought.
From trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong and the Happy Baby Stable, Lucky Freedom – who was having a 1,000m test on the vet’s orders – scored a good win for his connections.
Ridden by pre-apprentice jockey Gordon Lim, the son of Sweynesse cleared the innermost chute and came out full of running, before taking up a stalking position behind his stablemate, Blaze Titan (Andre da Silva).
Lucky Freedom claimed the lead at the 400m mark and was never again headed.
The four-year-old galloper went on to win by 1¼ lengths and he did it in 1min 2.21sec which, on that mushy track, was the fastest of the morning.
A handsome chestnut by Sweynesse, Lucky Freedom has had two unplaced runs in Open Maiden events in Malaysia, over 1,200m and 1,500m.
After that first victory in his most recent trial, the New Zealand-bred will run in Race 6 in the Open Maiden contest over 1,400m on Dec 21. Apprentice jockey Haikal Hanif will partner him.
He comes up against a field of similarly minded triers, all wanting to break their maiden status. He might need the run, but if he reproduces his trial form, he might just pocket some stake money.
Keep him in mind when you are mapping out your strategy for those interesting novelty bets. It might be worth your while.
