May 20, 2026

Popeyethesailorman punches his way to a smart trial win for trainer Lines in KL

Everything went wrong for Storm Chaser at his debut in a 1,150m sprint at Kuala Lumpur on April 18.

The Divine Prophet five-year-old, who was sent as the second favourite and looked good for a first win at his first Malaysian start, had to settle for sixth place in that field of 11.

But it was, in a big way, not his fault.

His jockey, Shafiq Rizuan, did a couple of things wrong and eventually both horse and rider paid the price, with a heftier one for the latter.

Stewards found the ride “unsatisfactory” and the Malaysian jockey was slapped with a six-month suspension, which he is now serving until Oct 18.

One month after that race, Storm Chaser was back in action at the trials which were run off on the morning of May 19.

Ridden by budding apprentice jockey Gordon Lim in the second-hit-out, Storm Chaser showed the form which made hm that $21 second pick on debut.

Stepping out smartly, he claimed the lead on settling down and never gave it back.

Such was his dominance that he had a two-length break at the top of the straight and, under his own steam, he pulled further and further away to eventually take the trial by 6½ lengths.

Always well in hand, Storm Chaser came close to going under the minute-mark. Under a strong hold, he clocked 1min 00.58sec for the 1,000m.

Trained by Winson Cheng Han Yong, the gelding looks ripe and ready for another date under the winner’s arch.

Storm Chaser has been a winner once before and that was in that highly competitive cauldron that is Hong Kong – in a 1,400m race at Sha Tin on June 8, 2025 when racing as Sky Prophet.

From what he showed us at this most recent trial, his breakthrough win in Malaysia could come at his next start. Watch for it.

Runner-up in the trial for a Cheng queue-up, stablemate King Odds (Haikal Hanif) was hardly disgraced, even if he finished a gap behind. He beat the third-placed Skyluck Blessing (Lim Shung Uai) by 4½ lengths.

Having a starting stall test, which he passed, King Odds had five starts in New South Wales where his best showing was a second-placed outing in Queanbeyan over 1,460m on Nov 11, 2025.

While the Bivouac three-year-old needs to show more for a more complete assessment, his trial was indicative of a racer who knows the way around a racetrack.

The first trial of the morning went the way of a galloper who is known to Malaysian racegoers.

Popeyethesailorman did not just deliver a win for trainer Richard Lines and the En Stable. He did it in style and, in the process, ran the 1,000m in 1:00.22 – the fastest of the morning.

Ridden by Jackson Low Kang Cheng and having to clear the outermost chute in that eight-horse starting line-up, Popeyethesailorman settled down near last.

Soon after he made ground into fifth spot at the top of the straight, he went full throttle.

Flexing those muscles like his namesake, he carved out a path through the field and took the lead a furlong out.

Anego, ridden by Aify Yahaya, fought on bravely but the now-leader was safely home by a short head. Taking third, another short head away, was Bintang Sixty-One (Oscar Chavez).

A 21-time starter with four wins and five second-place finishes to show, Popeyethesailorman has raced just once this season.

He ran second to Mega Ace in a Class 3 race over the 1,020m on April 25.

He has, however, been to three trials having also won one on March 31.

On the back of that most recent win at the trials, the Reward For Effort six-year-old would not be too far off another win for the Lines yard.

Source : Brian Miller