Jockey Marc Lerner is finally starting to make an impression on the Malaysian circuit after a relatively modest start by his standards.
A winning treble last Sunday suggests the Frenchman is returning to the form which took him to eight Group One wins during his seven year stint in Singapore.
Lerner will take the ride on the Simon Dunderdale trained HYPEMAN in the 1275m Max Two Stakes (Race 4). HYPEMAN, a former Australian galloper, had no luck from barrier fifteen in the 4YO Selangor Mile when trapped wide throughout but did a good job by the same token to finish 7L from the winner at his first attempt over the trip. The gelding scored over 1100m for his local debut in mid-June and will be suited by the class drop. LUCKY WARRIOR has only scored once in thirteen starts but his last start 4th in the 1300m 4YO Selangor Silver suggests another win is close. FORTUNE TREE debuts for the Richard Lim yard and is coming off some handy form lines in Australia prior to spelling in February. His recent trial form is solid and is one to watch on local debut.
Last start winners PACIFIC MASTER and BOLD RUNNER are expected to be the major players in the 1200m Class 4A contest (Race 6). BOLD RUNNER had shown potential during his first two preparations which produced a maiden win on debut back in September last year. However, the now four year old seems to have really strengthened and matured going by his decisive first up win by 3.25L defeating subsequent winner, Montana Flash a fortnight ago. On the other hand, PACIFIC MASTER is more experienced with five lifetime wins, including a one length wins over Saturday's track and trip here on July 20. The six year old goes up 2.5 kg from the win. DRAGON CLAW has been dealt a blow with wide barriers in recent starts but looks the value choice second run back in the grade from the coveted number two gate.
GOOD STAR is a progressive type on the way up and his eye catching performance in the 4YO Selangor Mile was one to behold. The T Mahadi trained gelding came within a neck of beating arguably Malaysia's best performer in Lucky Magic after sprinting from midfield from the 400m in the sixteen horse lineup. GOOD STAR draws wide but he's a moderate beginner with a quick turn of foot and will drop back to the distance he was successful at back in June. He looks the one to beat in the 1400m Class 3 contest (Race 8).
S Dunderdale and M Lerner will combine with another former Aussie in SHINJUKU which heads the weights in the 1700m Class 4A (Race 9). SHINJUKU is also coming out of the recent 4YO Selangor Mile where he didn't receive any luck when tightened in the final stages. However he's quickly bounced back with a 2nd, beaten a head, over the same trip here last Saturday and gets an opportunity to break the Malaysian duck on the seven day backup.
