SELANGOR RACE PREVIEW SAT 16 MARCH
With the rail back in the true position for the two days of racing at Selangor Turf Club this weekend, Saturday’s card will be highlighted by a strong Metro A contest (Race 5) over the mile featuring four Group One winners.
One of those is last year’s G1 Selangor Gold Cup winner, PASIR PINJI (1), freshened up since an impressive victory over this journey five weeks ago when he had to travel wide from gate ten for the majority of the event. He has the outside barrier to overcome and will rely on his class to chalk up his eleventh win in the country.
However, one of his major stumbling blocks is former Singapore galloper TRUMPY (4), who created a huge impression when he sprinted from last to defeat Penang Gold Cup winner, Cheval Blanc, over 1400m at his local debut. Prior to that, the 8yo finished runner-up to last weekend’s Singapore G3 winner, Bestseller, back in November before crossing the causeway.
Multiple group performer in Singapore, COUNTOFMONTECHRISTO (5), makes his local debut for trainer Marcus Teh and resumes from a two-month break. The 10yo, a Singapore G2 and G3 winner early in his career, has only scored once in twenty tries over the mile but is a worthy addition to the high-grade ranks in Malaysia and will be competitive.
Last year’s G1 Tunku Gold Cup winner, SAN ANDREAS (3), is on the cup trail again this season and was back in form when placed behind PASIR PINJI (1) last start. RAGNAR (8), a recent place-getter in the G1 Penang Gold Cup, is capable of causing an upset on best form but can be hard to follow at times.
Race 5 Selections: (4) Trumpy (1) Pasir Pinji (5) Countofmontechristo (3) San Andreas
In-form 6yo, JB KAINGEH (4) should continue his winning ways and looks hard to beat in the 1200m Class 4B contest (Race 6). While aiming for the hat-trick, it should continue the good run for Selangor trainer Simon Dunderdale, who has strong representation over both days of racing.
JB KAINGEH (4) can add to his handy Malaysian tally of 6 wins and 8 placings from 16 starts and will only go up 2kg from his winning performance.
APIS (2) returns to home turf and will be picking up a Class 4 race soon while AHORSEWITHNONAME (5) impressed at the trials a couple of weeks back and is one to watch first up. The 5yo mare picked up a maiden win from thirteen outings in Singapore but is likely to improve on those statistics in the coming months.
MYSTERIOUS CAPTAIN (6) attracted market support last run and sprinted well to finish 3rd on the inner track three weeks ago.
Race 6 Selections: (4) JB Kaingeh (2) Apis (5) Ahorsewithnoname (6) Mysterious Captain
