Stop The Water also impresses with his trial win on soggy track
They went for him like they knew he was going to run well on debut.
That was in a Class 4A race (1,275m) at Sungai Besi on Sept 6, and it did not bother his rivals that Rumeur was having his first run and that apprentice Azizi Azhari was doing the steering.
But the Siva Kumar-trained $14 favourite failed to finish in the money on his Malaysian debut.
The five-year-old son of Mongolian Khan had to be content with a fourth behind the Nick Selvan-trained Elliot Ness.
Fans can put it down to Rumeur having an off day, but they should keep the faith in the New Zealand-bred.
Rumeur has got potential and, like it was on Aug 19 when he tossed in a good trial when a short head-second to three-time Group 1 winner Lucky Magic, Rumeur did it again.
On the morning of Sept 17, he went one better and won his trial by a convincing 2¼ lengths. On a wet track at Sungai Besi, he returned a time of 1min 00.91sec.
Ridden by Mohd Zaki, trainer Lim Shung You's Sakura was quick into stride and led the field into the first turn.
Rumeur, under a tight rein from Aify Yahaya, held on to second and never allowed the free-flowing leader to get too far away.
As the field of eight made their way into the straight, Rumeur began to make inroads.
He soon caught up with the fast-fading Sakura and clearedaway to win with loads of fuel in reserve.
Trainer Jason Ong's Pacific Silver (Uzair Sharudin), who was having a starting stall test, came home late to claim second.
The Simon Dunderdale-trained Robertian (Jagadishan Daniel) finished another 2½ lengths away in third.
That was the second hit-out of the morning and Rumeur looks to be a good addition to Siva's stable.
Even if he has yet to get off the mark in Malaysia, the bay galloper knows how to win races.
Until being flown out to continue his racing career in Malaysia, Rumeur was activein New Zealand and Australia, where he won one race from 11 starts.
It was over a 1,600m contest at the harbourside city of Tauranga on the North Island on March 16, 2024, and he won with quite a bit in hand.
Rumeur is an honest sort, so watch when Siva sends his charge out for his second foray in Malaysia. It could be a winningone.
In the first trial, which was also run on the soggy grass, former Singapore galloper Stop The Water showed us why he already has six wins – three in Kranji and three in Kuala Lumpur – to his credit.
Ridden by Khairil Zulkiflee, he scooted clear to win the 1,000m hit-out by an impressive two lengths.
The Headwater five-year-old trained by champion trainer Richard Lines stopped theclock at 1min 00.16sec. Given thetrack conditions, it was an impressivetime and, as it turned out, it was the quickest of the morning's three trials.
The Wayne Lim-trained Secret Wonder (Aify) took second, which left the Ong-trained Pacific Padrino (Uzair) having to settle for a distant third, another 6½ lengths away.
Stop The Water last raced in the Selangor Mile (1,600m) feature for four-year-olds on July 20, just before the Southern Hemisphere-bred turned five on Aug 1.
He was never in contention and finished down thecourse in that race won by Lucky Magic.
Lines then gave his galloper a 59-day rest before this trial. The break certainly did the trick.
The second-placed Secret Wonder has yet to face the starter in a race at his new home, but he is not some wet-behind-the-ears four-year-old with no clue of what is happening.
The son of Supido has been tried and tested on racetracks in South Australia, where he had three starts for a win, a second and a fourth.
That victory was in a 1,000m sprint at Murray Bridge on March 8.
On his showing at this latest trial where he led by six lengths until being caught by the fast-finishing Stop The Water, Secret Wonder looks like he should do well at his new stomping ground.
The final trial of the morning saw the eight-year-old The Saint win in a canter.
A reputed front runner, the Abdullah Aboo Bakker-trained galloper took command after 200m and was never headed.
Showing flowing action throughout, he eventually beat Lim's Fuji by 1½ lengths, and did the trip in a respectable time of 1:00.94.
