July 7, 2026

Australian trainer’s 4YO runners Duma and Trees Of Valinor all set for Class 2 mile test

Trainer Frank Maynard, who opened proceedings on July 5 with Kitsune winning the first and Mega Skye taking the fifth race, could see his good run continue at Sungai Besi on July 11.

The Australian handler has just two runners entered for the meeting, and both will see action in the Class 2 event (1,600m).

Duma and Trees Of Valinor were, on the morning of July 7, put through their paces in a smart workout in Kuala Lumpur.

On a track rated good, the pair would have impressed their boss when running the 600m out together in a smart time of 36sec.

On the strength of that workout, they look in good enough form to tackle the mile.

Duma will come under starter’s orders on the back of a good run in the 4YO Sprint Championship (1,200m) on June 28.

That day, when ridden by bang-in-form jockey Bernardo Pinheiro, the Too Darn Hot five-year-old came from dead last to slip into fourth behind eventual winner Pacific Energy.

He will appreciate the extra 400m this time.

His stablemate, Trees Of Valinor, has been off the boil recently with two mediocre runs, including his last-start eighth in the 4YO Sprint Championship, but we know the son of Telperion is better than that.

The four-year-old New Zealand-bred is a five-time winner whose last two wins have been in Class 4A races – over the 1,400m on April 25 and 1,500m on May 10 – so the mile will suit him just fine.

In the other Class 2 race over 1,100m that attracted a field of 13 – including one emergency acceptor – the bulk of the runners were out strutting their stuff on the training track.

Catching the eye were the top two rated runners, Fortune Rising and Banker’ssweetheart.

From Winson Cheng Han Yong’s yard, Fortune Rising did a faultless gallop, running the 600m in 38.3sec.

Since winning a trial at his first Malaysian appearance on Feb 24, the son of Alabama Express has won two from two, albeit when he was under the care of Richard Lim.

The four-year-old gelding won well in his last start in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Trophy (1,200m) on March 29 and a hat-trick is not beyond him, so keep your eyes peeled.

Prepared by Johnny Lim Boon Thong, Banker’ssweetheart is a five-year-old mare who broke through for her first win at her fifth Malaysian outing on June 30.

That was in a Cosmo C race (1,100m) in Ipoh. The daughter of Safeguard led from pillar to post under a good ride from Joe Kamaruddin.

A fine-looking chestnut, Banker’ssweetheart settled into Lim’s yards on Nov 30, having arrived from Western Australia where she raced 19 times as Miss Flirtacious.

All her five wins were over the sprint trips of 1,000m to 1,200m, which says she will be right at home over the short and sharp 1,100m trip on July 11.

After drawing a blank at the just-concluded meeting, Lim will be looking to get back to his winning ways and, in Banker’ssweetheart, he does look to have a runner who could set things right.

Source : Brian Miller