Antipodean spearheads Gold bid for young guns

KUALA LUMPUR - In recent years, the big races have mostly been contested and won by much older horses in Malaysia.

Cheval Blanc, then eight, won the Group 1 Penang Gold Cup (2,000m) last December followed by the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) in April.

Nine-year-old Trumpy won the Group 1 Perak Derby (2,000m) in April and Circuit Mission, eight, triumphed in the Group 1 Penang Sprint Trophy (1,400m) last July.

However, Kong Fu Panda halted the seniors’ dominance when he bagged the Perak Gold Vase back in June. He was then five years old.

The trend could be bucked again at the RM200,000 (S$60,000) Group 1 Hygain Horse City Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m) at Sungei Besi on Sept 8.

The stage is set for a mouth-watering clash between the old and the new, with the two leading chances being young guns Antipodean and Golden Pegasus, the two main protagonists in the 2024 Selangor Turf Club (SLTC) three and four-year-old series respectively.

Antipodean’s unbeaten run of seven consecutive wins might have ended last start, but the Derryn four-year-old will be one of the horses to beat, especially with Bernardo Pinheiro to partner him.

The New Zealand-bred gelding appeared to have trouble to get going last time, and when he eventually did, it was too late to catch Gamestonks in a Supreme A race over 1,300m on Aug 24.

The Simon Dunderdale-trained galloper has yet to be tested over the mile but has twice won over 1,400m, including the New Zealand Bloodstock 3-Year-Old Trophy on July 13. He had earlier won the 3YO Pacific Cup (1,200m).

Golden Pegasus ruled the roost among the four-year-olds. For a horse who started racing only after reaching that age, the son of Star Turn (Golden Monkey’s sire) has already notched six wins, split between 2023 and 2024.

He swept the two four-year-old races, the Selangor Turf Club 4-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m) last June and the Safar Gemilang Cup (1,600m) in July.

Now five, the Wayne Lim-trained galloper is in tip-top form after another win over 1,600m on Aug 10. He gets into the Cup with 55.5kg, ½-kg less than Antipodean.

He will be ridden by this season’s leading jockey Ruzaini Supien.

Another up-and-comer is Military Flag, who was only three when he won four races in the space of five months from December 2023.

He was then beaten by stablemate Antipodean in the 3YO Pacific Cup (fourth) and New Zealand Bloodstock 3-Year-Old (third).

Military Flag now meets Antipodean 4kg better and comes into the Gold Cup with a last-start runaway win in a Class 3 (1,400m). Dunderdale has called up Kranji-based jockey and regular Falcon Racing rider Simon Kok for the mission.

The old guard are not without strong representation, though.

Besides Cheval Blanc, other former Kranji competitors like Sincerely, Good Fight, Wecando and Trigger Pegasus (formerly Trident) can all make their presence felt, while topweight Awesome Storm, Berry Bliss and Streets Of Fire can strike for the original Malaysians.

Awesome Storm, another Dunderdale, blitzed his Tunku Gold Cup rivals in 2022, before running second to San Andreas in the same race the following season.

Nonetheless, the punishing 60kg may make it a big ask for the champion sprinter.

Besides, his only test over the mile resulted in a third to Pasir Pinji in the 2023 Selangor Gold Cup. The latter will not defend his title after some poor recent runs.

Fifth in the 2023 Selangor Gold Cup, the former Michael Clements-trained Sincerely has mixed his form since, but mostly over sprints.

The Listed mile winner in France will return over 1,600m only on Sept 8. Going on his thirds at his last two starts over 1,300m, a case can be made for the now Richard Lines-trained French-bred eight-year-old son of Evasive.

Berry Bliss fared even better in the 2023 Selangor Gold Cup when he finished second for father-and-son team, ex-Singapore champion trainer Charles Leck and ex-Kranji-based Malaysian champion jockey Clyde Leck.

The six-year-old 10-time winner will aim to go one better by keeping it in the famous Singaporean racing family. Clyde is still in the saddle, but this time for his cousin, the recently licensed Joseph Leck.

However, all the buzz will be on Antipodean and Golden Pegasus, who are also arriving at an exciting time for Malaysian racing.

SLTC