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New Paper
a day ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Pacific Vampire proves too strong over 1,020m sprint
KUALA LUMPUR - Pacific Vampire proved his dominance over the sharp 1,020m sprint in the RM62,000 (S$18,900) Supreme A race at Sungai Besi on Aug 17, albeit on the No. 2 track. With his natural early speed, the Jason Ong-trained six-year-old has - more often than not - proved hard to catch when racing on the main track in Selangor. But with the Supreme A contest run over the sharper No. 2 track on the inside, three well-backed runners took Pacific Vampire on, consisting of his stablemate and the bang-in-form Filial Dragon - who won four consecutive races before going down to Noah Khan in his last start - Platinum Fort and Bransom. But they all proved to be no match for Pacific Vampire as he cruised to a 3¼-length victory. Platinum Fort (Marc Lerner) took the early lead, and Pacific Vampire (Jerlyn Seow) quickly joined him, before breaking away to a clear lead at the 600m. Bransom (Clyde Leck) followed in third, with Dream Alliance (Andre da Silva) and Filial Dragon (Oscar Chavez) behind in fourth and fifth respectively. Pacific Vampire ($12) led into the straight three lengths clear of Platinum Fort. Tried as the latter did, he could not gain ground on the leader and had to settle for second. Filial Dragon just beat Bransom to take third. The winning time was a slick 58.1sec for the 1,020m on the yielding track. Two-time Singaporean champion apprentice Seow was concerned with the trip and outside barrier before the race, but Pacific Vampire dispelled all her doubts. "He's (Pacific Vampire) a genuine, fabulous and amazing horse," said Seow, who rode the son of Impending at his debut win in Singapore on April 6, 2024. "We did have some doubts today because it's 1,020m, and we had a wide barrier draw (8). We expected a lot of speed on the inside, but I think the speed was just right today." Seow has now ridden Pacific Vampire to three of his four wins in Malaysia. The Pacific Stable-owned gelding has also picked up four wins from 11 starts at Kranji previously. Pacific Star ($24) rang up a back-to-back double for Ong after the Boulder City six-year-old completed a hat-trick of wins in the RM49,000 Supreme C event (1,800m) under da Silva. The leading Brazilian jockey was also his winning partner in his last two starts. Also owned by Pacific Stable, Pacific Star has won six times over 1,200m to 1,600m in Singapore, and has saluted four times over middle-distance races from 13 starts in Malaysia. SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE
New Paper
5 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Problem trio pass test in style
On a track rated "good", the winners of the three trials run on the turf on the morning of Aug 12 came mighty close to breaking the minute mark for the 1,000m. All three had to settle for times which were just a tick above 60 seconds. Given they were all trialling for various troubles, the trio certainly passed their tests with flying colours. Quickest of the trio was Kim Kim. The mare ran the trip in 1min 0.38sec. Following up in the second trial, Kitsune went out and did the distance in 1:00.45. And, not to be outdone, the third trial of the morning saw Jazz Band stop the clock at 1:00.98. In the fourth and last trial which was run on the sand at Sungai Besi, Blue Jay took the honours in 1:03.1, a slower time which is par for the course for the alternative surface. Blue Jay (Joe Kamaruddin) beat Vittoria Perfetta (Oscar Chavez) by a neck. Unfortunately for Vittoria Perfetta, the gallant 10-year-old veteran of eight wins collapsed and died after the winning post. That sad incident aside, the run of the morning had to be the show put up by Kim Kim in the opening trial. The seven-year-old mare came with a strong run from midfield under Firman Yap to beat the early front runner Tornado Pegasus (Andre da Silva) by two and a half lengths. Kim Kim was at the trials by order of the club's veterinary team after she pulled up lame (near fore) when running a distant ninth to Pacific Star in a 1,600m race on Aug 2. The way is now clear for Kim Kim to pick up from where she left off - which is, trying to add to the three wins she has already secured for trainer Nick Selvan and the one she won for Tim Fitzsimmons at Kranji on Jan 23, 2023 when known as Ahorsewithnoname. The daughter of Adelaide has had four unplaced runs since her last victory on May 3. But aside from that issue of lameness at her last start, nothing else seems to be amiss. As for runner-up Tornado Pegasus, he too was at the trials after pulling up lame when finishing down the course in the race won by Pacific Hero on Aug 3. On the strength of his showing in this latest trial where he attempted to lead all the way, Tornado Pegasus can now resume racing. But, proceed with caution as at nine years of age, he is no spring chicken. If you had fancied Kitsune at his last start on Aug 2, you would have been roughly brought down to earth when he played up at the start, fly-jumped when the gates opened and messed it all up. As it turned out, when he began racing in earnest, he made up loads of ground to run sixth in that race won by Make You Happy. Those errant manners warranted a test which he too passed quite admirably. After the Japanese-bred four-year-old by Henry Barows cleared the gates rather effortlessly, he led the field to the first turn on the far side and continued to control the tempo when the seven runners straightened up for the run home. A furlong and a half out and Grand Supreme began to eat into his lead. Under Marc Lerner's urgings, he looked like he would catch Kitsune. But the momentum was with the leader who held off the challenge to win by a neck. The pair left the Jerome Tan-trained Benbo (Akmazani Mazuki) wallowing in third spot, some 3 ¾ lengths in arrears. After such a fine run, Kitsune looks to be in a good place to finally break through for a win. Then there was Jazz Band (Shazmin Sudin) who tracked the early leader Mega Titan (da Silva) before taking out the third trial, beating newcomer Sir Ruby (Clyde Leck) by half-a-length. Sabah Win (Chavez) filled in that third spot, a neck away. Mega Titan, who was having a barrier practice, was eventually eased down to the line to finish sixth. As for Kim Kim, Kitsune and Jazz Band, they are all set to slip back into their racing plates very soon. brian@
