It was a dream start for jockey-turned-trainer William Looi when his first runner, Arion Success, cruised to victory in the Class 4 Handicap over 1100m at Selangor on Sunday.
After working as an assistant to Leong Poh Keong, Looi was granted a trainer’s license in his own right just last week. Arion Success was first-up in Malaysia for nearly 15 months after last racing at Kranji on July 7, 2022, where he was formerly trained by the retired trainer KY Young.
Despite the long layoff, punters queued up to back the six-year-old into favouritism, and the gelding didn’t disappoint. He pinged the gates from the widest draw and led throughout, posting a dominant 2.5-length victory under jockey Larcio De Souza.
“It’s a load off my shoulders — saddling my first winner,” said Looi.
“This horse has not raced for 463 days and tend to be fractious in the barriers. So I would like to thank all my staff for the hard work. He (Arion Success) will turn out to be a very good horse.
“I would like also to thank the MRA for the licence and the Chairman and committee members of the Perak Turf Club for granting me the stables.”
[…] Jockey-turned-trainer William Looi got off to the perfect start at Selangor on […]