3 minute read

Quick quartet narrowly miss lowering the minute-mark at Sungai Besi on May 20

Fast times were the order of the day on the morning of May 20 – and there was no holding back.

On a track which was deemed "yielding", the four winners of the trials run on the turf at the Selangor Turf Club all narrowly missed breaking the minute-mark.

Taking it down from the fastest, we had Joyee Go  clocking 1min 0.12sec in the second hit-out.

Earlier, in the opener, Joey did the 1,000m trip in 1min 0.23sec followed by a good run by Mr Big Brother in the third trial. He clocked 1min 0.36sec.

To wind up the action, we had Winning Symphony taking out the fourth in a time of 1min 0.56sec.

The other two trials held that same morning were on the sand track and the winners were Antipodean  in 1min 2.79sec and Written Towin who did the trip in 1min 2.91sec.

The most impressive among those tearaways on grass – although not the fastest – was Mr Big Brother.

Ridden by pre-apprentice jockey Ikram Jamaludin, he was not the swiftest to get moving, with that honour going to Infinite Wisdom who, under Laercio de Souza, scooted away to lead the parade with Mr Big Brother holding third.

Into the home stretch and it was a fight between Infinite Wisdom and Mr Big Brother.

However, the "fight" soon fizzled into a one-horse show when, at the 250m mark, Mr Big Brother  floored the leader and kicked away to win by 7½ lengths.

The galloping lesson was rather uncharacteristic of an ageing galloper who had not shown much to write home about of late.

A rising 10, Mr Big Brother was giving away years to his younger rivals. The last time the son of Al Maher won anything was on Aug 4, 2024 when he beat a Class 5 (A) field over the mile.

That was when he was under the care of trainer Lim Shung You. Now with Sharee Hamilton, he seems to be trying to find his feet. Maybe the hit-out will help turn things round.

Back to that first trial and, hats off to the winner Joey and second-placed Big Bad Mama.

While Joey, who is also trained by Hamilton, was not the swiftest that morning, he was most impressive for another reason.

The six-time winner by Power was in the line-up on orders of the club's veterinary team who found him to be lame off-ore when pulling up after his last start on May 3 when sixth to Defeater.

Well, we now know that Joey did not just "pass the test". He did it in style, when almost breaking the minute-mark.

Second-placed Big Bad Mama, who led the field until the 300m mark, was also being "tested" after she too pulled up lame when finishing last to Brother Lian'An on May 4.

Until that run, Big Bad Mama had been turning in decent results and, for a while, it looked like she was nearing another win – which would have been her eighth success.

Well, on the strength of that test which the Gingerbread Man eight-year-old mare passed, that day might not be too far away.

Joyee Go was the fastest of the morning. He had Iskandar Rosman doing the steering and he was always travelling too well for his rivals.

Jumping off from the innermost gate, he was content to sit second while allowing Speedy Samurai to call the shots early.

However, with 750m remaining, he shifted gears and claimed the lead. To his credit, Speedy Samurai did not give up the fight and the pair raced away from the rest to slog out the finish.

It was over the final 100m that Joyee Go went full throttle, holding off Speedy Samurai to win by half-a-length.

A three-year-old New Zealand-bred by Nicconi, Joyee Go has been trying to break through for a first career win but, after five starts, the best he had managed was a second behind Storm Pegasus in a 1,200m sprint on Dec 15.

Trainer Lim Shung You has been patient with the youngster who has had three trials over the 1,000m.

That win on May 20 was a breakthrough. Hopefully for his connections, it might spell a turnaround in form.

Then there was Winning Symphony. Having an Official Race Trial, he made every post a winning one.

Prepared by Tiang Kim Choi, the two-year-old was at his first trial. With natural progression, this son of Anders could develop into something really useful.

So, let us watch for his first racing gig. It could be a good one.