Mar 11, 2025

Awesome Storm, Te Akau Ben and Good Fight ready for Cup

Simon Dunderdale is making space in his trophy cabinet for the Tunku Gold Cup trophy.

The seriousness of his challenge in the Group 1 race (1,200m) on March 16 was there for all to see on the morning of March 11.

With four confirmed entries and one emergency acceptor in the Tunku Gold Cup, the reigning Malaysian champion trainer holds the whip hand in this first leg of the Malaysian Triple Crown series.

Dunderdale’s Awesome Storm, Te Akau Ben and Good Fight were the headliners at the busy training track at Sungai Besi.

The trio did not break any speed records for the 600m but that was probably not the intention.

On a track rated “good”, we saw Awesome Storm dispose of the distance in 40sec. Te Akau Ben went a tad slower in 41.2sec while Good Fight cleared the trip in 42 – unextended.

Come March 16, what are we going to get from this terrific trio?

To take it from the top, we have Awesome Storm. A reputed front runner, he fell short at his last start in the Supreme A race (1,200m) on Feb 23.

Under apprentice Tuan Ammar, the son of Phenomenons led the field but was found wanting in the closing stages and was caught by eventual winner General Command and Shirvo. He ran third – 2¼ lengths in arrears.

Yet, his gallop on the training track does suggest his New Zealand handler has smoothened out the rough edges and Awesome Storm should be ready for the speed battle ahead.

As for Te Akau Ben, he gets into the fray as a last-start winner.

That was over the mile in a Metro A event on March 1, but do not take it to mean that the 1,200m will be too sharp for the son of Tavistock.

When Te Akau Ben was trained by Donna Logan at Kranji in 2023 and 2024, he won six races, of which four were over the 1,400m.

The trip on March 16 may appear shorter, but that is just on paper. He is as honest as they come, but to cast him aside just because the race coming up is 200m shorter than what he would have liked could be a costly mistake.

As for Good Fight, the sprint trip could be a negative though.

While Dunderdale will be the first to say the Super One gelding has been a good horse to have in the barn – he has won 10 races in Malaysia after relocating from Singapore in mid-2022 – the honest truth is plain to see.

Good Fight is still best suited to races over the middle distances.

However, he does possess early speed and if he makes a breakaway, he could be a factor in those novelty bets – like the tierce and the quartet. Keep him safe.

Aside from Dunderdale’s three talented seven-year-olds, Jason Ong’s gallopers were wildly popular on the training track.

The Wild Fire showed speed running the 600m in 37sec. The Wild Chief went over the same trip in 40.2sec while The Wild Prince clocked 41.2sec in a separate gallop.

Right now, all three “wild ones” share one thing in common.

They have each raced once in Kuala Lumpur since relocating from Kranji.

In the time they have been at Sungai Besi, the best of the lot has to be The Wild Chief.

He ran sixth in that Class 4B contest (1,200m) won by Legend Ninety Two on Feb 23, but it was a busy finish with just 1½ lengths separating the top six.

The Time Test five-year-old would have benefited from that outing and we should soon see him notch up his first win in Malaysia.

The Wild Prince was hardly disgraced when he finished fourth to Two Million in a Class 5B race (1,300m) on Feb 23.

In fact, the son of Rip Van Winkle looked a possibility at the 400m when racing in second, but he got the staggers over the final furlong and was swamped by a posse of three runners.

His Singaporean trainer would have taken positives from that outing and we should see him run a better race.

The Wild Fire clocked the fastest time among the three but he still might need a run – or maybe two – before he can open his Malaysian account.

A six-year-old by All Too Hard, The Wild Fire’s last win was a thriller.

That was in a Class 5 Division 1 race (1,400m) at Kranji on Sept 21, 2024. Under Jerlyn Seow, he sprinted home in the final 100m to beat Southern Speed by a short head.

The Wild Fire is better than that sixth place behind Baby Twins in the Class 4B event (1,150m) at Selangor on Feb 16.

It was a baptism of fire and he should come out of that looking and feeling like a better horse. Keep him on your shortlist.

Source : Brian Miller