Feb 12, 2025

Among Kranji’s last 10 winners, Ong’s ward wins his trial on Feb 12 with plenty in hand

Right now, his claim to fame has got to be the fact that he was a winner at Kranji on Oct 5.

Yes, on the day when the curtain fell on Singapore racing, The Wild Chief was one of 10 horses who trotted into the winner’s stall.

It was trainer Jason Ong’s only winner that day, but he still claimed his second champion trainer title.

Immediately following that win, The Wild Chief was sent across the Causeway to take up residence at the Selangor Turf Club.

That was four months ago and since then, the four-time winner has yet to see racing action at his new stomping ground.

Well, the wait could soon be over as Ong must have been super pleased with The Wild Chief’s showing at the trials held on Feb 12.

That day, when partnered by Koh Teck Huat – who rode him to two of his four Kranji wins – the Time Test five-year-old showed grit and loads of determination when winning the trial with, what looked like, a tonne in reserve.

Sure, it was a narrow victory – just a neck. But the “will to win” was there all along.

The Wild Chief clocked 1min 1.45sec for the 1,000m. It could have been faster but Ong’s runner never got going until a furlong from home.

Had Koh released the brakes earlier on, we might just have seen him break the minute-mark.

With that trial having brought up the last finishing touches, Ong should now be plotting a path to his Selangor debut.

Sure, it will be his first appearance in quite a while but do not take that to be a negative.

The Wild Chief can race well when fresh, as he demonstrated at his very first race in Singapore on Oct 7, 2023.

With Koh on the reins, he got off to a flying start, beating a talented field in that Open Maiden 1,000m event.

So, stay alert and watch for The Wild Chief when Ong sends his runner to the races. It could be a winning Malaysian debut.

The young trainer would later claim another victory when Pacific Beauty (Andre da Silva) took the sixth of the morning, clocking 1:01.67 for the sharp sprint.

Another good winner at the trials was another newcomer from Ricky Choi’s Platinum Racing Stables, Platinum Fort.

The Deep Field five-year-old was involved in the first jump-out of the morning and he stamped his authority over the concluding stages of the trial.

Ridden by Nuqman Rozi, Platinum Fort was parked in the slipstream of the early leaders, Super Happy and Tornado Pegasus.

With 100m to travel, he collared Tornado Pegasus and, like a hot knife through butter, he easily took the lead to win by three parts of a length.

Filial Dragon, another one from Ong’s yard, took third with a late bid.

But, on the day and on a track rated “good” it was all about Platinum Fort.

On seven winners this term, Choi, who is at his first full season, currently sits in third spot on the trainer’s log.

Platinum Fort, who hails from the same outfit which combined with Choi for a smashing debut by Platinum Emperor in the Wilayah Silver Bowl Trophy (1,200m) on Feb 2, could well enhance Choi’s tally when he gets going.

As for the runner-up Tornado Pegasus, he knows all there is to know about racing.

The Echoes Of Heaven chestnut is getting long in the tooth at the ripe old age of eight, but his zest for racing has not diminished.

Indeed, he is still racing like a frisky juvenile, as he showed at his run two starts back for trainer Ananthen Kuppan on Dec 1.

That day, when ridden by da Silva, he made every post a winning one when beating his stablemate and hot favourite Bold Runner by almost two lengths.

Last time, he tried the same tactics and led the field until the two furlongs from home when he began to rapidly lose ground. He eventually finished the 1,200m race in seventh spot.

A veterinary inspection revealed that he had finished lame.

Anyway, all that is in the past. The just concluded hit-out was a “test” to assess his soundness and he passed it.

The connections could soon be looking at a seventh career win from their charge.

Source : Brian Miller