KUALA LUMPUR: May 28, 2025

Duma will lead the field out in the RM200,000 3YO Sprint Championship (1200m) at Sungai Besi on Sunday and it’s hard to see anyone else but the son of Too Darn Hot taking the trophy.

After all, Duma accounted for a similar field in the RM150,000 NZB Ready To Run 2023 Graduate Cup (1400m) early last month, winning by a massive 3-3/4 lengths! Although it will nearly two months since that race, the gelding has maintained his form well and trainer Frank Maynard has kept him fresh for the task ahead.

Maynard heaped huge praises on the gelding after he won his first two starts last year, saying that the New Zealand bred has what it takes to win the big races.

Duma returned to racing this season with two very close second-place finishes, then ran an out-of-character bad race before redeeming himself last time out. With his last-start winning rider Nuqman Rozi on the sidelines due to injury sustained in a race fall, Maynard has managed to secure the services of leading jockey Andre da Silva and that will be a huge plus for the top-rated runner.  

Quite a number of the horses Duma beat in his last start – Rocky Pegasus (3rd), Rocky Bhai (4th), Bold Runner (5th), Achilles Pegasus (6th), Campionessa (8th) and Storm Pegasus (11th) – will come up against him again, with the addition of Yes Man, Defeater, Cheval Pegasus, Release The Spirit, Sakura and Banker’ssixtythree this time around.

Yes Man has won three of his eight starts, going into the race on Sunday on the back of a fighting win in a Class 4A race over 1200m two weeks ago. The Yes Yes Yes gelding had clashed with Duma once last year, narrowly losing an Open Novice race over 1300m. It will their first meeting since.

Defeater, who also ran in that race won by Duma last year, has been consistent in nine starts since, winning twice. He is a last-start winner over 1200m in Class 4.

Liang Xiaochuan, who rode both Yes Man and Defeater in their last start, will be onboard Defeater and the ride on Yes Man has gone to Oscar Chavez.

Leading trainer Jason Ong will be represented by Cheval Pegasus, one of the horses be brought over from Singapore where he was the champion trainer in the final two seasons in 2023 and 2024.

Never out of the board in seven runs at Kranji, Cheval Pegasus broke through for his maiden win on his Malaysian debut and quickly followed up with another victory in Class 4. He has have another two runs in Max Two class since. We will know just how good he is on Sunday. Ong has engaged Marc Lerner on the Flying Artie gelding.

After a debut fourth and a second, Release The Spirit went on to win his last two starts on the No. 2 track with Winston Cheah partnering him. This looks a much thougher contest for the Nicconi gelding but the horse and jockey will be hoping for a hattrick.

Look out for Sakura as well. The son of Stratosphere won his only start in Australia and was third on his Malaysian debut in an Open Novice 1400m race won by Thunderous two weeks ago.

The only American bred in the line-up is Banker’ssixtythree who won his debut as Golden Sixty Three in January and after a change of name, finished second to Our Secret Weapon in Class 4A two weeks ago. 

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