It was a big day for the R Lim stable as they saddled three winners across the twelve race pr0gram including the feature race. The 3 Year Old Sprint Championship for RM200,000. The stable has been very consistent since moving across from Singapore and the horses are always well presented being standouts in the parade ring before cantering down to the start.
The first of the winners came in race 2 with Southern Speed who went start to finish in front despite looking like a beaten horse in the final stages. He was able to rally under T See and managed to fight back to win by the barest of margins beating Healthy Baby by a nose. He didn’t have to wait too long for the second winner as the next race produced King’s Gambit for a race to race double. This time, A Da Silva rode him to victory and went past the field with plenty of ease at the 300m mark to end up winning by 1 1/2 lengths.
To close off the treble, it couldn’t have come at a better time in race 7 in the 3YO Sprint Championship over 1200m with Elite Prince. The favourite was the talented Duma who will no doubt be back in the winners box in the near future, but a well timed ride by R Shafiq who had first run on the rest of the field, shot clear at the right time at the top of the straight which would have caught Duma a little flat footed in a sprint. As much as Duma and Yes Man were fighting to try and cut back the deficit with Elite Prince, the more he extended his lead and won rather comfortably by 2 1/2 lengths.
In the post-race interview, Lim wasn’t too confident with his chances heading into the race but when the gates opened and Shafiq was able to get him to the lead, he knew he would go close to winning as Elite Prince is a talented horse but obviously had doubts if he could beat Duma. The 3YO Mile Championship takes place at the end of the month and despite it being too early to tell if he can stay the mile, he should be one of the leading lights. It will certainly make for a great rematch with Duma expecting to finish a lot closer stepping up in distance.
The next race meeting back at the Selangor Turf Club is this Saturday on the 7th of June for what should be another action packed weekend of racing.
