Singapore/Malaysia
Pantong shines during workout
Simon Dunderdale and Ricky Choi’s entries draw attention during trackwork at KL
He came away with a training double at the just-concluded Selangor meeting on Dec 7.
Simon Dunderdale closed the programme by sending out Guru Fight to take the last event on that big day of racing.
Heading towards the close of the season, Dunderdale and his yard could start the year-end celebrations early.
Impressive among them were Pantong and Lightning Gal .
After a spot of cantering, Pantong clocked 38.8sec for the 600m while Lightning Gal went over the same trip in 41.8sec.
Both served notice of their chances in the races coming up.
Pantong earned a busload of fans after that debut win on Sept 21.
Back to that win, Pantong led from pillar to post and prevailed, beating Smart Cat by 1½ lengths.
Last time out, Smart Cat turned the tables and, although scrubbed along by Troy See over the concluding stages, the son of Pendragon went down by a neck.
Come Dec 14, Pantong's fans will be hoping for revenge and, with Smart Cat – among others – in the starting line-up, they will be looking forward to a winning show.
As for Lightning Gal, she is better than that last-start showing on Nov 22 when, backed down to second favourite, she finished down the course in that race won by Elliot Ness.
In her defence, she did not have things her way, having to race wide for most of the 1,275m trip.
And to compound matters, the four-year-old by Royal Meeting suffered interference in the closing stages.
Lightning Gal is better than that, the filly has been kind to Dunderdale and the Buffalo Stable.
In 21 starts, she is already a four-time winner and, on 10 other occasions, she has added money to the kitty by finishing second, third or fourth.
Come Dec 14, when she carries bottonweight of 53.5kg, she could be looking at a fifth victory in what will be her 22nd start.
By his lofty standards – and he did move over from Macau with some pretty fine gallopers – Ricky Choi has not yet blazed a fiery trail.
Then again, as a first-season trainer in Malaysia, he has done fine, saddling 33 winners.
He drew a blank on Dec 7, missing out in the last race when the favourite Hennu Stall lost out to Guru Fight.
He will be looking for better on Dec 14 with his two contenders – Dragon Claw and Platinum Boss.
Both were out on the training track where, in separate gallops, they clocked 40sec and 38.8sec respectively.
Dragon Claw, who raced as Golden Cosmo in Macau, was a debut winner in Malaysia when winning a 1,020m race last Dec 22.
Then came a drought of 11 races. But the six-year-old persevered and picked up his latest victory on Oct 25.
The son of Pierro finished second at his last start on Nov 22 and, on the strength of his morning work on Dec 9, he could go one better on Dec 14.
As for Platinum Boss, his Malaysian breakthrough came on Nov 8 when, under a good ride by Benny Woodworth, he charged home to a convincing win, beating Elliot Ness by 2½ lengths.
The son of Rageese looked in line for a race-to-race double at his next start on Nov 30, but was well beaten into fifth spot in that race won by Elite Prince.
On his 11th start, he goes over 1,200m on Dec 14 and Choi will be looking for a good showing from his seven-year-old.
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