Yes Man gets the nod in season-opening feature
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Aeras (Haikal Hanif) returning to scales after taking out the Class 4A race (1,200m) in Ipoh on Jan 4.
PHOTO: HEW FEE KIT
Sharon Zhang
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Yes Man bounced back from his disappointing run in the Singapore Pools Trophy (1,200m) last time to claim the first feature race of the 2026 season, the RM80,000 (S$25,300) Bunga Raya Vase – Visit Malaysia 2026 (1,100m) at Sungai Besi on Jan 3.
The son of Yes Yes Yes has been a consistent sort since his debut in 2024.
The Tiang Kim Choi-trained four-year-old went into the Singapore Pools Trophy on the back of three consecutive wins in Class 3 and Class 2 levels, but faded in the straight to finish eighth behind the winner Big Union
But, Yes Man ($13) was back to his best in the Supreme A race. Under Shafiq Rizuan, he led from the get-go before cruising home to a five-length victory.
“He seems to be more mature and better after his last run,” said Shafiq to Turfonline.
“He settled well and in the straight, he just took off.”
Tiang, who took over the gelding from Simon Dunderdale at the end of 2024, has higher goals in mind for the seven-time winner.
“Yes Man has the potential to win a Cup race and I hope to do so with him one day,” he said.
Shafiq bagged a back-to-back double with Storm Titan ($14), another promising four-year-old from trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong’s stable, in The Rainforest Wonder Handicap, a Class 4B event (1,400m).
It was a relatively easy all-the-way win from the son of Ace High, albeit he had to fend off a pesky Zed Or Alive (Tuan Ammar) who finished 1¼ lengths behind in second.
Cheng kept up his winning momentum in the 2026 season with his second winner in Ipoh on Jan 4, when Aeras ($15) landed the Class 4A race (1,200m) under Haikal Hanif.
The Zacinto seven-year-old, who won two races in Selangor, was making his debut at Perak Turf Club, but he was unstoppable after clearing out for a comfortable 5½-length win from Lucky Lyle (Tham Kin Chong).
Previously trained by Ismadi Ismail, who retired in late 2025, Lucky Lyle finished second once in two starts, and was at his first run for newly-licensed Ipoh trainer Yan Weng Kuan.
The son of Overshare – also Yan’s sole runner of the day – was unfortunately denied his chance to open his account when Aeras came motoring past him at the 200m.
Cheng, who rang up a double on Jan 4 after Kanthaka ($39) also won the Class 4B race (1,200m) three races later, was not surprised Aeras got off the mark in Ipoh right away.
“I was very confident before the race that he can win very easily, and he did,” he said.
“He has got good ability too in KL, but it’s more competitive there, and we want him to win somewhere, so we brought him here.
“The Hong Kong owner (Alan Leung) is very good and supportive. While he currently has three horses with me, he will have more new horses coming over.
“Storm Titan is also an up-and-coming one. He can be as good as Lucky Magic.
“It’s a good start to the new year, and I look forward to improving my score (36 wins) from last year.
“Hopefully, I can have at least 50 winners. But most importantly, we want to have new blood and make owners happy.”
The Penang-born young trainer, who began training in 2020, was crowned champion trainer in 2022 with 85 wins.
Bar his debut season in 2020 when he sat fifth on 27 wins and in 2025, when he clocked 36 wins to finish sixth behind Jason Ong, Cheng had finished second twice and third once on the Malaysian trainers’ log.
