Mar 4, 2025

Stablemates Bull Fight and Thundergod also look sharp on the training track in Kuala Lumpur

It looked to be a good day for trainer Sharee Hamilton. She had 13 runners contesting the 12 races at the Selangor Turf Club on March 1 and a couple of them – like Radetzky Marsch and Joey – carried some stable confidence.

However, as it turned out, Hamilton could manage only a second placing when Aftermath lost to the Joseph Leck-trained Honesty in the Class 4A sprint over the sharp 1,020m.

Well, the New Zealander should and can do better at the meeting coming up on March 9.

She has assembled a capable team of nine for the races at Sungai Besi and three of her runners caught the eye when sent out for work on the morning of March 4.

Mr Big Brother stopped the clock in an impressive 38sec for the 600m while Bull Fight was held in check when covering the same trip in a leisurely 42sec.

Then, there was Thundergod who ran out the distance in 39.7sec.

While all three runners are not going to win any popularity contests among racegoers any time soon, they could start paying for the board and lodging at Hamilton’s yard.

Mr Big Brother was an emergency acceptor in the Class 5A event (1,150m) on March 1 but, since there were sufficient runners, he failed to get a start.

It was a pity as he had been showing promise in his last three runs, including his last-start sixth on Dec 8, 2024, when he was still under the care of trainer Lim Shung You.

Sent over to Hamilton in the beginning of 2025, the son of Al Maher had been working towards a win which would have been his fifth in a long racing career.

The ex-Singapore galloper won three races from 47 starts at Kranji before transferring to Malaysia, where he has won once in a Class 5A contest (1,600m) on Aug 4, 2024.

Well, the good thing is, he gets another chance on March 9.

Hamilton has picked up a nice race for her nine-year-old veteran. It will be a two-pronged attack as Mr Big Brother will have to play “big brother” to his young stablemate, Bull Fight.

The Bull Point three-year-old – who is still looking to break through after three unplaced outings – did a neat gallop and it would have topped him up sufficiently for a decent showing in the Class 5A race (1,020m) on March 9.

Thundergod, who has been at Hamilton’s barn since moving over from Winson Cheng Han Yong’s yard in mid-2023, knows what is needed to win races.

The Zacinto seven-year-old has been in that hallowed enclosure seven times, with his last win coming on Dec 22, 2024 when he beat a Class 5 field (1,400m) in Penang.

That win nudged Thundergod up to Class 4 and, while some racegoers could take that as a negative, the proven front runner is an honest sort and the shorter 1,300m on March 9 looks up his alley.

Outside of Hamilton’s trio, keep an eye on Shihab.

Singapore racegoers will be familiar with the five-year-old by Shalaa. He won two races over 1,400m and 1,600m when under the care of trainer Steven Burridge before moving to Malaysia in late 2024.

Now with trainer Abdullah Aboo Bakker and still racing in the colours of the Al-Arabiya Stable, Shihab was also out for a morning gallop and he would have caught the attention of many when he so easily disposed of the 600m in a neat time of 39.6sec.

Right at ease over the middle distances, he has raced three times on his new home track and the runs have not been too shabby.

At his Malaysian debut on Dec 15, 2024, he finished fifth to Smart One. The race was over the much shorter 1,150m – which would have been considered a tad too short.

His connections then sent him to the trials on Jan 7 and he came away from that one with flying colours, winning by a healthy 3½ lengths.

Abdullah then decided it was time he went to the races. That was on Feb 9 and he finished a close third to Perseverance.

He had friends at his next start on Feb 23 but the race did not pan out the way his connections had hoped it would.

Shihab was caught wide soon after the start and that was where he was obliged to stay for the entire 1,800m trip.

He has been entered for the Class 5B race over 1,400m on March 9. At this stage of his racing, it could be just the trip he needs.

Source : Brian Miller