Barbarian goes swiftly, looks set for ninth gong

On a Kuala Lumpur track rated good, several horses involved in the seven races to be held on Nov 2 recorded smart times in their training gallops on Oct 29.

Impressive among them were The Star, Barbarian and Jewel Sixty-One. From Lawson Moy’s yard, The Star ran out the 600m in 38.3sec.

Not to be outdone, Jewel Sixty-One disposed of the same distance in 38.6sec.

However, the swiftest of the lot turned out to be Barbarian.

From the yard of Ananthen Kuppan, the eight-year-old Redoute’s Choice gelding returned 37.4sec.

A veteran with 62 race starts under his girth, Barbarian will be involved in the Class 4B sprint over the 1,400m.

While a victory will not come gift-wrapped, he does appear to be a good thing at the weights, having to carry just 53.5kg in that 10-horse field.

The General, who also worked nicely when running the 600m in 38.4sec, could be the main danger.

But the American Pharoah five-year-old, a two-time winner from nine starts, will have to do the job with 56.5kg on his back and, when push comes to shove, the pull in weights may just favour Barbarian.

Already an eight-time winner, Barbarian last won over the Kuala Lumpur 1,200m on June 23.

That day, under a confident ride from apprentice Azizi Azhari, Barbarian – then trained by Nick Selvan – came from a long way back to swamp his Class 4 rivals with a pulverising finish.

He has been under Ananthen’s care since August but his three runs have not produced a top-three finish.

Perhaps the gallop on Oct 29 would have served to smooth out the rough edges.

That being the case, we might see him take the fight to some of his more fancied rivals – especially over the 1,400m.

The Star is another who looks set to light up the track on Nov 2.

His work does suggest that Moy has the six-year-old Hallowed Crown gelding in very good order.

A last-start winner in Class 5 company on Oct 12, The Star was all-conquering over the Kuala Lumpur 1,200m, leading all the way under apprentice Mohamad Fikri.

Racing fans from Singapore will remember The Star from his days when he was under the care of trainer Tim Fitzsimmons at Kranji.

His last win in Singapore was on Oct 28, 2023.

That day, when ridden by jockey Vlad Duric, The Star justified being sent out as the $11 top pick in that Class 5 contest when he ran home a winner by three parts of a length.

Come Nov 2, he will be having his second start for Moy and a second win from as many starts will not come as a surprise.

The same could be said about Jewel Sixty-One.

An American-bred, he was another who moved across the Causeway when Fitzsimmons wound up his operations at Kranji.

The First Samurai six-year-old has had two starts so far for his new master Selvan.

While both runs did not get him a spot in the headlines, he was not disgraced.

His first outing at Kuala Lumpur was on Sept 21. That day, over the sharp 1,020m, he ran home from midfield to fill fourth spot.

The handsome chestnut was a good one in Fitzsimmons’ yard, scoring a treble from his 10 starts when prepared by the Australian.

His three wins – all in 2023 – came in quick succession.

He romped home in a Class 5 1,200m Polytrack event on Feb 12, followed it up with a win over 1,400m on March 4 and completed his hat-trick over 1,400m on April 1. Those last two wins, in Class 4 company, were on turf.

Now a six-year-old, Jewel Sixty-One goes over his pet trip of 1,400m on Nov 2 and, on the grass, he should be hard to beat.

Should there be a serious challenger, it might come in the form of Sacred Judgement.

Trained by Lim Shung You – better known as S.Y. Lim – Sacred Judgement tossed in a decent workout, clocking 38.4sec.

A multiple winner when under the care of trainer Jerome Tan at Kranji, Sacred Judgement has been sparingly raced at Kuala Lumpur.

To his credit, his four starts produced a win – in a Class 4 1,100m event – on Sept 8.

The nine-year-old son of So You Think is getting long in the tooth but he still has that zest for racing.

Do not allow his age to sway your judgment. He can still raise a good gallop.

 

brian@sph.com.sg