Trainer Moy strikes with another newcomer in Irish Goodbye at the Sungai Besi trials
Newcomer Always A Gentleman boasts a rather impressive resume of two victories back in Brazil, where he raced as Martin Luther King.
The son of Put It Back showed his versatility when winning over 1,400m and 2,000m, the latter being the distance of a Group 1 event for three-year-olds at Gavea on March 3, 2024.
He was then sold to Hong Kong where he was renamed Harmony Great and could not win in two starts.
Now residing in Lawson Moy's yard at Sungai Besi as Always A Gentleman, the five-year-old made his first appearance in a competitive setting when sent to the trials on the morning of Aug 26.
In under a minute, those at trackside were treated to a galloping show.
Taken out by Uzair Sharudin in what was the first of four trials that morning, Always A Gentleman was merciless.
Settling down in the slipstream of Antipodean, he took control of things at the 800m mark.
By the time the runners had hit the 600m marker, he had opened up a six-length break on Antipodean and Latin Legend, who had joined in the party.
Into the home stretch and it was all about Moy's runner.
With 300m to travel, he was eight lengths clear of the chasing pack. Just when it seemed like he would put an eternity between himself and the rest, Uzair applied the brakes and Always A Gentleman shortened strides.
Still, such was his dominance that he beat Antipodean by three lengths and, even with the brakes on, he clocked an impressive 59.74sec for the 1,000m.
Moy could not have asked for a better introduction of his newcomer to Malaysian racing. He could be looking at a winner first-up.
As for the runner-up, Antipodean, he needs no introduction.
The Derryn five-year-old is primed and prepped for his next assignment which is the Trinity Cup to be run over the 1,400m on Aug 31.
A darling with Malaysian racing fans, Antipodean, who races off 103 rating points, became a hero when he put together seven wins in a row from Feb 12 to July 13 2024.
Three more wins followed, that last one coming on April 5 when under the care of Tiang Kim Choi.
Last time, in the RM1 million (S$305,000) Selangor Mile run on July 20, the Simon Dunderdale-trained galloper finished third to new Malaysian star and dual-Group 1 winner Lucky Magic.
He did not have the smoothest of passages in that contest and will be eager to make amends on Malaysia's National Day.
Moy introduced another gem when Irish Goodbye easily claimed the second trial of the morning.
Like Always A Gentleman, this newcomer to Malaysian racing also had Uzair doing the steering and, like his stablemate, Irish Goodbye was another easy winner.
He took the trial by 1½ lengths and he did it in a time of 1min 00.49sec.
An unnamed runner by El Roca took second spot under Clyde Leck, while Maximus Pegasus (Aify Yahaya) showed up late in the running to claim third spot.
Another Brazilian-bred, Irish Goodbye will race in the colours of Tan Cheong Soon who also owns Always A Gentleman.
As for the easiest winner of the day, that honour goes to Big Asia.
Up against three others in the fourth and final trial of the morning – which was run on the sand track – Big Asia (Nuqman Rozi) made every post a winning one.
By the time the finish line loomed, he had put seven and a half lengths between himself and runner-up Bluejay (Joe Kamaruddin).
He clocked 1min 02.41sec.
Trained by Lim Boon Thong for the Cat Racing Stable, Big Asia is still looking for his first win on Malaysian turf.
The US-bred three-year-old by King For A Day came close in his last start on Aug 9, but had to settle for second spot when beaten by The Wild Prince. That race was over the 1,150m.
On the strength of his trial, Big Asia seems to be holding that last-start form. So keep him on your shortlist for the next time Lim sends him to the races.
