July 22, 2026

Navarre Regent and Navarre Crown claim two of six KL barrier trials for Dunderdale

It was at the races on July 19 that trainer Ooi Chin Chin saddled Sky King to close off proceedings on a happy note.

Maintaining the same winning momentum into the week, Ooi showed off a promising newcomer who took out the opening trial on July 21.

A filly by the name of Gold Medal Madam showed fighting qualities when holding off a strong challenge from Welcome Banker’s to win by three parts of a length.

In her first official appearance in Malaysia, Gold Medal Madam (Khaw Choon Kit) won that 1,000m hit-out in 59.38sec, which turned out to be the fastest time of the morning.

It was still a hard-fought win.

Welcome Banker’s was travelling like a winner for a track rider over the initial 600m until challenged by the filly who took the lead at the top of the straight.

But the work was not yet done and dusted.

The Johnny Lim Boon Thong-trained Welcome Banker’s refused to toss in the towel. The two went heads up heads down over the concluding stages, where Gold Medal Madam eventually prevailed.

Until being flown out to Malaysia, the Farnan filly had two starts as Space Cadet in New South Wales in Australia where she would have paid off part of her purchase price by taking second in a 1,000m race at Nowra.

This recent trial at Sungai Besi was her first appearance in her adopted country and, from what was shown on the track, she does look to have the qualities to settle in well.

Another good winner on the day was Mega Velocity.

A two-year-old Hanseatic colt who has yet to appear in a race in Malaysia, he took out the third trial with complete authority.

Trained by Jason Lim and ridden by Bernardo Pinheiro, Mega Velocity was not handed the win on a platter, though.

For most of the 1,000m he was hounded by the Simon Dunderdale-trained by the unnamed Alabama Express runner who had Liam Riordan up in the saddle.

However, Mega Velocity asserted his authority at the 250m mark, thereafter pulling away to win by an easy 3½ lengths in a time of 1min 0.83sec.

While the youngster has not yet been to the races, it was his second trial, following the one on July 7 when he was beaten four lengths by Contarelli. 

That day, Mega Velocity clocked 1min 0.88sec. He showed improvement on July 21 when trialling with blinkers and pacifiers.

Watch for his Malaysian debut. With speed being his forte, he could make a first-race impact.

Dunderdale, who saddled that second-placed yet-to-be-named newcomer, went on to claim the next two trials with Navarre Regent and Navarre Crown.

A couple of two-year-olds who race in the colours of the Buffalo Stable, Navarre Regent and Navarre Crown posted easy wins in their respective trials.

Ridden by Riordan in the fourth contest, Navarre Regent, a son of Super Seth, led from pillar to post and was never seriously challenged by second-placed stablemate Capet Regent, the mount of Pinheiro.

He eventually won by three lengths and he did it in a time of 1min 0.26sec.

Since arriving in Dunderdale’s yard on Feb 3, Navarre Regent has had two trials and took second in that first one run off on June 30.

As for Navarre Crown, who was having an Official Race Trial (ORT), he too won with what seemed like plenty in the tank.

While still unraced and raw, the win at this latest trial does suggest that the son of Yes Yes Yes has been well schooled by Dunderdale’s team.

So, like his stablemate Navarre Regent, watch for the day Navarre Crown trots out for his first start. He should do his master proud.

Source : Brian Miller