Apr 15, 2025

At 10, Penang Sprint Trophy winner is still working a treat as 2025 Kuala Lumpur comeback nears

Circuit Mission has been sparingly raced, but his latest trial on April 8 did seem to suggest that he was far from ready to be put out to pasture.

The 10-year-old veteran still has that tick of the heart and his trainer, Frank Maynard, may be right in thinking that his old trooper can still puncture some youthful egos.

The son of High Chaparral did everything right – except to win – at his most recent trial.

That day, under Nazir Aiman, Circuit Mission showed us that age was just a number when he ran a nose second to Aeras over the 1,000m on the turf.

He clocked 1min 02.06sec for the trip. It was not the fastest of gallops, but it was a dogged showing.

Couple that with his workout on the morning of April 15 and you might want to be paying attention to his upcoming race.

Sent out on a track which was rated good to yielding, Circuit Mission ran out the 600m in a flashy 38.7sec.

A two-time winner from UK, Circuit Mission was last trained by British handler James Peters and notched five wins in Singapore before joining Maynard’s yard in early 2024.

At his second start in Malaysia, he repaid his new Australian boss by getting off the mark in the RS A race (1,100m) in Penang on May 26, 2024.

Back at his home base at Sungai Besi, he pulled off a race-to-race double when leading all the way in a Supreme A event (1,400m) on July 7, 2024.

Circuit Mission went on to make it three on the trot by bagging his first Group race, the Group 1 Penang Sprint Trophy (1,400m) on July 28, 2024.

It will be foolish to use age against him when he lines up in the Supreme A race (1,200m) on April 20.

Garudan is also getting on in years.

The Wandjina eight-year-old was one of the morning stars on April 15 when disposing of his 600m training gallop in an impressive time of 37.2sec.

The India Horse Club-owned galloper was known as Laksana when under the care of New Zealand trainer Stephen Gray in Singapore.

He won five races at Kranji before moving over to Sharee Hamilton’s Kuala Lumpur yard, and won on Aug 24, 2024 in a Class 4B race (1,600m) at his new home track.

He very nearly made it two on the bounce but had to play second fiddle to Arthur Pegasus at his next start on Oct 13, 2024.

Yet to face the starter in a race this season, Garudan will line up in the Class 4B contest (1,300m) on April 20 and that is a winnable race for him.

Also turning heads on the training track were Forest Gold, Road Of Tiger and Lim’s Sinai.

In separate gallops, Forest Gold ran out the 600m in 37.2sec. Road Of Tiger did it in 37.8sec while Lim’s Sinai covered the distance in a breezy 42sec.

If one had to choose a standout from the trio, it would have to be the Lawson Moy-trained Lim’s Sinai.

Since charging home to beat Handsome Joyful by a head in a 1,150m sprint on Feb 9, the Sooboog five-year-old finished third in his three subsequent starts.

That last race in a Class 5A race (1,200m) on April 6 would have been painful for his connections.

Ridden by Laercio de Souza, he carried some support but blew his chances when slowly away. To make matters even more dire, he lost some ground after shifting out at the 300m mark.

Despite all those negatives, he still managed to bring home some money.

He will race over the 1,150m in a Class 5A event on April 20 and should land a few blows that could hurt his rivals.

Forest Gold took fourth at his last start in a Class 5B race (1,300m) at Ipoh on March 30.

The Maynard-trained four-year-old finished just a half-length behind the winner, Official. He looks to have improved since that outing and could be one for those novelty bets.

The same goes for Road Of Tiger. Prepared by Lim Shung You, the Midshipman seven-year-old last ran third behind Handsome Joyful in a Class 5A race (1,020m) on March 9.

His work on the training track does suggest he is holding form. So, have him on your shortlist when you are mapping your strategy for the 12-race programme on April 20.

Source : Brian Miller