17 April 2026, Kuala Lumpur

Racing takes place at the Selangor Turf Club this Saturday for a ten race card on the program starting off at 13:15 local time. For a meeting with no feature races on the day, it certainly hasn’t stopped the quality of horses being entered as the likes of Antipodean, Platinum Emperor, Mega Ace etc. have returned to the track in their respective races.

Starting off with race 4 – a 1400m Supreme A event – has attracted two of the highest rated horses in the country in the form of Platinum Emperor and Antipodean. Both of them are returning after their recent efforts in the Tunku Gold Cup over 1200m where Platinum Emperor finished third and Antipodean finished last with valid excuses. The top weight Platinum Emperor has been touted on numerous occasions as one of the best horses in the country and a replay of his last run certainly cements that status as he was 15th at the top of the straight and flashed home to finish 4th and beaten just under 2 lengths behind Fortune Tree. He has won over course and distance before, draws well to have the run of the race in barrier 3 and should be the one to beat. Antipodean is the obvious danger – especially with Ikram taking off 3kgs – and has an outstanding 1400m record with 7 starts for 6 wins and a 2nd over this distance in his career. It should make for a great match race between the pair with not much splitting them.

The best bet for the day comes in race 7 where Mega Ace is back after a tough race in the Tunku Gold Cup. He’s dropping back to 1020m where he is unbeaten over course and distance and has the fastest time recorded compared to the rest of the field. He is drawn wide in barrier 9 but that shouldn’t be a problem with his natural early gate speed he has. The biggest danger is Fright who draws to do no work from barrier 2 and if he repeats his penultimate run, he could be a ‘fright’ to Mega Ace. 

The penultimate race of the afternoon also presents a strong first selection in the form of Navarre in a Max Two Stakes over 1300m. In Max Two Stakes races, punters should lean towards higher-rated horses such as Navarre, who is 10 points clear of the second-highest-rated horse, Banker’s Secret, and is carrying the same weight as him whereas a normal handicap would see Banker’s Secret receive 4,5kg. 

Devon Pretorius