Classy gallopers Arigato and Duma also serve notice with good training workouts

It has been a long while since Jason Lim saddled a winner.

The Singaporean trainer, who recently made his training comeback in Malaysia after leaving Kranji in July 2023, managed one second from six runners at his first meeting at Sungai Besi on Oct 5.

Try as he might, Grand Supreme just could not catch Good Chilli in that Class 5A contest (1,020m).

Lim has entered a small but compact team of five – including two emergency acceptors – to contest the Oct 12 races at the Selangor Turf Club.

He could be looking forward to a big show from Forever Sixty-One.

A debut winner in a Novice race (1,200m) on April 27 when under the care of Ananthen Kuppan, Forever Sixty-One has since moved to Lim's yard and had a quiet trial on Sept 30.

The son of Belardo will line up in another Novice event (1,275m) and Lim has sent him out for a training gallop on the morning of Oct 7.

Forever Sixty-One breezed over the 600m in 41sec.

Form-watchers will raise a question or two about the four-year-old galloper, given he is resuming after more than five months.

But the New Zealand-bred gelding seems to race best when fresh.

Formerly known as Forthegoodtimes, he finished unplaced in two outings in New Zealand back in 2024, but scored on debut after coming to Kuala Lumpur.

So, keep the faith with the AJ's Stable's galloper, and hopefully, we will see him open a new chapter for Lim in Malaysia.

In the same race, give some thought to Momochiko .

From Winson Cheng Han Yong's yard, she would have impressed track watchers with her work.

Another one who was not out to break any land speed records, she did a spot of cantering before upping the ante when running the 600m in a cool 42sec.

Now a five-year-old, the All Too Hard mare tossed in a good run on debut in a Class 4A race (1,300m) in Ipoh on Aug 23.

Then, Momochiko led the boys on a merry chase until her condition gave out 200m from home. Still, and to her credit, she stayed on to take fourth spot – just 1¼ lengths behind the winner, One Abracadabra.

When racing as Gee Kristie in Australia, she won an 1,100m race in Victoria, and also placed twice.

On those statistics, the Hyper King Stable-owned galloper should have a big say in the 1,275m event.

A couple of runners entered for the highlight race – the New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) Ready To Run Sale Championship (1,400m) – were also out on the training track.

They were Arigato and Duma, and it was difficult to find fault with either of them.

In separate gallops, Arigato went over the 600m in 39.7sec while Duma clocked 38.6sec for the same trip.

The seven-year-old Arigato is still racing with the verve and vigour of a frisky four-year-old. He gets into the action on the back of two consecutive wins.

Trained by Lim Shung You, the New Zealand-bred does seem to have a liking for the Ipoh layout, where he scored his two wins over the 1,300m and 1,400m.

But there is nothing to suggest the son of Charm Spirit cannot do the same at Sungai Besi.

As for Duma, the track and trip will surely suit.

The son of Too Darn Hot was an impressive winner in a Class 3 race (1,400m) on Aug 9, and he lost no marks in a similar race last start – albeit over 1,200m – when third to Fortune Tree on Sept 28.

That day, when ridden by Wong Kam Chong, the Frank Maynard-trained four-year-old was in a pickle right from the get-go.

He was caught up in traffic and had to race wide in the early and middle stages.

When push came to shove over the concluding stages, Duma was unable to secure clear running.

On a rating point of 73, the RC Stable-owned galloper looks out of his depth when compared to the lofty numbers of Group 1 winners Antipodean (107) and Lucky Magic (98), or last-start victor Arigato (96).

But do not dismiss Duma base on the ratings alone.

After all, the four-time winner has scored twice over this trip, and only missed the podium finish twice in 11 starts this year.