3 days ago
Two from three for Mega Skye
Watch for Mega Skye when he makes his debut at the races.
For now, trainer Frank Maynard has been sending his galloper to barrier trials and, like it was on Aug 5, Mega Skye once again turned in an impressive show at those early morning hit-outs.
Ridden by pre-apprentice jockey M. Zulhilmi, he ran away with the third contest in stylish fashion.
Here is how this trial went down on a good track at the Selangor Turf Club.
Having had to clear the outermost gate, Mega Skye was neatly into stride and quickly sat at the withers of the leader and stablemate, Northam Beach.
There he stayed for most of the trip but when push came to shove, he pulled clear to win by an impressive margin of two lengths.
Red Sky, who was also in a stalking position for most of the 1,000m trip, claimed second spot, a half-length ahead of the early front runner, Northam Beach.
But it was all about Mega Skye. In quick succession, that was his second win at the trials.
It was only a week ago on July 29 that Mega Skye claimed his first trial victory.
That day, when ridden by Andre da Silva, he did the trip in 1min 1.26sec.
His time for this latest run was a tad slower. He ran home in 1:02.12. But it was just as impressive.
A New Zealand-bred by Ocean Park, Mega Skye is a three-year-old and Maynard is in no hurry to thrust him into the real action.
However, the day has to come sooner or later and when it does, we could be looking at another one of those debut winners.
If Maynard was a happy man trackside, Simon Dunderdale would have been as beaming as he downed that cup of coffee.
Currently holding down second place on the trainer's log with 37 winners for the season, the New Zealander introduced racegoers to two more exciting newcomers.
They were Fright and Capetian, who claimed the second and fourth trials of the morning respectively.
As his name implies, Fright showed scaringly good action in his first appearance at these trials.
Ridden by Khaw Choon Kit, he was last to be locked up but first to bounce out when the gates crashed back.
Racing in a tight group, he was always among the first three.
Hitting the 300m mark and he was in a fight until Khaw extricated him from the pack. Fright saw daylight and he kept up a brazen gallop to win by a short head.
The Wonderbolt deserved credit for staying on to fight it out with the winner. He took second, beating the Sharee Hamilton-trained Radetzky Marsch into third spot by a massive 5 3⁄4lengths.
Fright clocked a neat time of 1:00.85.
A four-year-old by Brazen Beau, Fright is not new to the game.
Until being flown out to Malaysia to join Dunderdale's yard, he raced four times in Australia where he picked up a second and two third-placings from just four outings.
He placed second on July 5, 2024 in a 1,000m Maiden race at Ballarat.
He later went on to take third in races on Nov 5 and 16, 2024. Both were over the short sprint trips of 1,000m.
Watch for him when Dunderdale sends him out for his first Malaysian start.
Capetian, who was having an Official Race Trial (ORT) had to really work hard for his win.
Ridden by Marc Lerner, he had settled in fourth of five runners at the 600m mark.
But the Frenchman was in no hurry as he allowed Storm Warrior (Shafiq Rizuan) and Swey City Flyer (Khaw) to trade blows up front.
He made his move a furlong from home and quickly had them in his cross hairs.
A flick of the reins brought him on level terms and he then got Capetian to put his head down where it really mattered.
That did the job and Capetian took the honours, beating stablemate Swey City Flyer by a short head. Storm Warrior, from Richard Lim's yard, stayed on for third, another short head away.
Capetian turned three on Aug 1. He is still young and learning the ropes.
However, from the way he parked himself before picking off his rivals one by one showed fighting spirit.
Under Dunderdale's guidance, he could and should shape up to be a good one.
brian@
