‘Sprint King’ Arthur back in winning form
Ex-Kranji top galloper beats better fancied stablemate Super Salute in first M’sia win
KUALA LUMPUR - Once two of the top sprinters in Singapore in recent years, King Arthur and Super Salute have met many times at Kranji.
The last the two sons of I Am Invincible raced against each other at Kranji was in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1,400m) on Feb 11, 2024 when Super Salute ran third behind the winner Golden Monkey. King Arthur trailed home last.
In the Group 3 New Year Cup (1,200m) won by Super Salute on Jan 6, 2024, King Arthur ran unplaced.
Both gallopers were then sidelined before they resurfaced in Kuala Lumpur in the past two months when they came under the care of trainerParama Sivan Veerapen, better known as V. Sivan.
King Arthur made his Malaysian debut on Dec 1 when he finished unplaced while Super Salute ran third first-up behind Witnessimpact on Jan 12.
On the strength of that run, Super Salute jumped as the $13 favourite in the RM62,000(S$18,900) KL Tower Stakes over 1,100m at Sungai Besi on Feb 2 while King Arthur started at long odds of $79.
Super Salute (Saifudin Ismail) jumped cleanly in the Metro A race and quickly took the lead, but Buuraq Sixty-One (Tuan Ammar), Chinese Tea (Nazir Aiman) and Violet (Khaw Choon Kit) were breathing down his neck on his outside.
ApprenticeFikri Ismail, astride King Arthur, was watching the proceedings right behind the leading quartet.
A three-time Group winner in Singapore, Super Salute led into the straight but King Arthur had found a dream run on the outside of the pacemaker.
The seven-year-old collared Super Salute at the 200m and they matched strides until the 50m when King Arthur pulled away to win by 1¼ lengths, giving Sivana 1-2 finish.
Unplaced in two starts in Australia, King Arthur has won 10 times from 34 starts in Singapore and Malaysia.
“This horse (King Arthur) has been with me for the past four months. He came with leg and hoof issues and it took a while for me to get him right,” said Sivan.
“Today is the right day, the right distance and he proved it to the owner (Napshot Stable), to the stable and to everybody.”
Sivan was not at all disappointed with Super Salute’s second place.
“He had weight (59kg) on his back. The jockey (Saifudin) told me he would have run a better race if he had come from behind, but there was no early pace,” he said of the six-year-old.
“He jumped and found himself in front. He only gave up late.
“He will run a good race next start.” SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE
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