KUALA LUMPUR: March 12, 2025

Antipodean and Witnessimpact, two of the stars of the 2024 season, are both out to redeem themselves after having their colours lowered a little recently when they line up for the RM300,000 Equine Sanctuary Tunku Gold Cup (1200m) at Sungai Besi this Sunday.

The connections of both horses have gone out of their way to secure the services of top jockeys for their bid for glory.

Antipodean took the local scene by storm to reel off seven consecutive wins last year before taking out the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m) and another win over 1200m.

After a change of trainer, the Derryn gelding was soundly beaten by Witnessimpact over 1200m on resuming after a let-up, then finished a smack-up third to Pacific Padrino in the Prosperity Trophy (1600m) last Jan 31.

His recent runs suggest that will be more suited over a trip longer than 1200m but then he will go into the cup fresh, having a six-week break since his last outing.

Wong Chin Chuen, who rode Antipodean to victory in the Selangor Gold Cup in a brief one-day visit last year, will flying in from Korea – where he is currently based – to ride the four-year-old.

Witnessimpact landed in Malaysia as a maiden but reeled off four wins and finished third in his only other start last year.

The Star Witness gelding came out from a spell to win handsomely last Jan 12 but fared badly in his next start, finishing eighth to Platinum Emperor.

Three weeks ago, he could only finish second to Noah Khan in a Supreme A 1200m sprint, beaten by 5-1/4 lengths.

The Simon Dunderdale-trained star will out be to prove that he is better than his recent two runs suggest and the connections have called up Blaike McDougall.

The Australian won a lot fans when he won four races from 15 rides over the Chinese New Year period in his maiden visit to Malaysia.

Standing in their way of Antipodean and Witnessimpact are the multiple Singapore group winner Super Salute, Macau imports Platinum Emperor, Platinum Fort, Arigato and Shirvo, the versatile and ever consistent Good Fight and Te Akau Ben, who burst into the reckoning with a dominant performance just recently.

Super Salute was twice Group 3-placed, besides a win over 1200m, in Australia and rose from Class 4 to race against the best, the likes of Lim’s Kosciuszko, in Singapore.

The I Am Invincible gelding won eight races – seven consecutive – including the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy and the Group 3 Silver Bowl in 2023. Early last year, he won the Group 3 New Year Cup.

Super Salute was off the scene for eight months before showing up in Kuala Lumpur two months ago and has finished on the podium in all his three runs since. No doubt, the six-year-old will be match-fit for the task ahead.

His new trainer Sivan Veerapan has sought the services of Merc Lerner who won three races (from 10 rides) at Sungai Besi and Ipoh last year including the Perak Derby on Trumpy.

Platinum Emperor won eight races from 1200m to 1800m in two seasons in Macau and surprised many on his local when he came from a long way back to capture the Wilayah Silver Bowl (1200m) for five-year-olds last month.

Shirvo followed him home second in that and among the unplaced runners were Witnessimpact and Pacific Vampire, both heavily backed that day.

Shirvo, who won once in Australia and four times in Macau, has found one to beat in both his two runs in Malaysia and could be due for a change of luck. But the son of Not A Single Doubt needs to improve greatly on what he has shown so far.

Ricky Choi, who trains Platinum Emperor, will also send out Platinum Fort who will be making his local debut and will be one to watch.

Unlike Platinum Emperor who is quite versatile, the Deep Field gelding is an out-and-out sprinter, winning eight races in Macau including the Group 1 Chairman’s Cup over 1200m.

Choi, a former champion apprentice in Hong Kong, trained in Macau until last year and is among the early table-toppers in his first full season in Malaysia. The two ‘Platinum’ could be hard to crack.

Arigato won nine races from 1200m to 1350m in Macau and ran out an easy winner over 1200m in his second start in the country last Dec 22, beating an useful field which included Simcerely and Good Fight.

Trainer Lim Shung You has kept the Charm Spirit gelding fresh for his first crack of a big race in the country.

Good Fight, already winner of 11 races, is tough, consistent and versatile. Whether it’s 1200m, 1600m or 2000m, the son of Super One is always figure at the finish.

Winner of the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m) in 2023, he was second to Mega Gems in the Coronation Cup (1600m) last November, ran fourth in the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor (2000m), second to Lucky Magic in the Penang Gold Cup (2000m), then turned the table on Mega Gems over 1400m on Jan 19.

Good Fight was beaten a neck from Pacific Padrino in the Prosperity Trophy (1600m) on Jan 31 before running third to Lucky Magic in the Perak Derby (2000m) barely two weeks ago.

Te Akau Ben, who won six races up to Class 3, stormed in the Cup picture with a runaway win over 1600m two weeks ago in his second start since coming over from Singapore.

Granted it was over the ‘mile’ but the Tavistock gelding literally left this rivals standing in the final 200m of that race and he went to the post seven lengths clear. That earned him a crack at the Cup with a big jump (nine points) in the rating.

Two former winners, Awesome Storm (2022) and Cheval Blanc (2024) are again in the race.

Awesome Storm, who won the Tunku Gold Cup by a massive 8-1/2 lengths in 2022, is a victim of his own success. The Phenomenons gelding is the perennial topweight in the last couple of years and currently rated 116, he will have to shoulder 60kg on Sunday.

Cheval Blanc won the Penang Gold Cup (2000m) in December 2023 and defied the odds to win the Tunku Gold Cup last year. The grey bounced back to win the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor (2000m) last December but it is a big ask for him to do it again (beating the best over 1200m).

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