RACE 9 (1 – 2 – 4 – 3)

Malaysia’s premier four year olds will assemble for the running of the 1200m 4YO Sprint Championship at the Selangor Turf Club on Sunday.

Lat start G1 Tunku Gold Cup winner FORTUNE TREE (1) makes his long awaited return in the RM200,000 feature and is the only previous group winner in the fourteen-horse lineup. Despite the 91-day break, the statistics read well for the talented son of Ardrossan who boasts an excellent first up record (4:3-0-0), has won two from two over the 1200m in Selangor and is coming off an eye catching eleven length trial win earlier this month. Overall, the stars seem to align for FORTUNE TREE (1) but the gelding will be taking on a number of quality performers including the horse he defeated by a nose in the Tunku Gold Cup back in March. DUMA (4) has started three times since that narrow group defeat but indicated his winning turn is not far away judging by his short head defeat here a fortnight ago. DUMA (4) does tend to stand up in the big races however and his class can never be questioned with that familiar turn of high speed he has displayed previously. PACIFIC ENERGY (2) has been a model of consistency for the David Kok stable and deserves a feature victory. The gelding closed off well when falling a nose short in the Mitavite Asia Cup won by smart three year old and subsequent winner, Mega Ace back on May 23. BANKER’S HAPPY (3) is perhaps the best of the Banker’s Stable chances as part of their three pronged attack and has done little wrong with two wins from three local appearances. Aiming for the winning hat trick, the son of Capitalist will resume since demolishing a Class 4 lineup by eight lengths on March 29 prior to scoring over 1500m on the upgrade two weeks later. BANKER’S DREAM (11) is also targeting the hat trick coming off wins over inferior opposition but he broke the Class 3 duck last start and is sure to make his presence felt. FRIGHT (5) may require luck from his wide barrier but has raced well since joining the Frank Maynard stable and his runner up effort in the recent Baby Pery Cup keeps him under notice.

RACE 8 (2 – 1 – 3 – 4)

BANKER’S TWO SIX (2) has stamped himself as one of the most progressive gallopers on the local circuit this year and looks the testing material in the 1600m Aplus Cup with RM 100,000 in prize money. The five year old has never looked back since his narrow 2nd in the 2000m G1 Piala Emas Sultan Selangor last December chalking up five wins from nine starts in Malaysia. BANKER’S TWO SIX (2) appeared in no danger when picking up his first feature by leading throughout in the 1600m Chairman’s Trophy scoring by 2.5L. ANTIPODEAN (1) finished runner up on that occasion and will be looking to reverse the result. The five year old still remains competitive at this level and may have found the 1700m trip a fraction far in a Metro A contest on May 25 taken out by OMNIARCH (3). The horse formerly known as Good Star, OMNIARCH (3) scored for the first time under his new name and returned to the winners stall for the first time since taking out the G1 Coronation Cup in November. The Brazilian bred four year old IRISH GOODBYE (4) was a winner third up last preparation and is better suited over the longer journey while ALWAYS A GENTLEMAN (5) is expected to improve on the distance rise also.  

Source :