Ten Ten and Smart Cat all set for Maiden duel

With a bumper programme of 25 races to be run over the weekend at Selangor Turf Club, you could end up cheering yourself hoarse.

Most of the horses entered for the 13-race and 12-race meeting on Oct 25 and Oct 26 respectively were busy getting prepped for the action with training gallops on the morning of Oct 22.

Outstanding among the runners set to run on Oct 25 were some of the youngsters who will be contesting in Race 8, the Open Maiden event (1,200m).

There was Ten Ten who, after some cantering, ran the 600m in a breezy 38.8sec. Then out came Smart Cat, who took it easy when clocking 43sec for the same trip.

The Wonderbolt also had a good stretch-out showing. He clocked 42sec in his training gallop.

The Open Maiden race pits frisky youngsters against one another, and it looks to be a competitive field of 12.

A five-year-old son of Mongolia Khan, Ten Ten has had four unplaced outings in Malaysia, but the New Zealand-bred is better than that.

Now with Frank Maynard, he showed some promise when racing in Australia.

Previously known as Just Like Hank, Ten Ten was twice runner-up from seven starts in Victoria.

The latest was on Sept 17, 2024, when he took second over the 1,400m on a good track.

His four starts at Sungai Besi have not been awe-inspiring, but Ten Ten is better than that. He is getting there, and a race like the 1,200m sprint up could be a stage for him to show off.

From the stables of Ricky Choi Chun Wai, there is the promising Smart Cat.

Racegoers would have been impressed with his debut second behind Pantong in a similar sort of race on Sept 21.

That day, on Sept 21, when ridden by Liang Xiaochuan, the son of Frosted did not have the smoothest of runs, and had to race wide in the early and middle stages of the contest.

Still, and to his credit, he came home well to run just 1½ lengths behind the Simon Dunderdale-trained Pantong, who led from pillar to post.

A four-year-old New Zealand-bred, Smart Cat has ability and his Hong Kong-born handler, who has entered a small team of seven for the two days of racing, will be banking on a good showing from his youngster.

The Wonderbolt is much like Smart Cat. He has ability, but the difference is he has more race experience under his belt.

Formerly with Richard Lim and Steven Burridge at Kranji, and now with Richard Lines, the four-year-old gelding has been trotted to the start 17 times and on four of those occasions, he has added cash to the kitty.

The Wonderbolt finished third in his eighth and last race at Kranji, while with Lines, he has picked up one second and two thirds.

He came closest to winning on Feb 9 when, having his fourth start for Lines, he finished a neck second to Dancing Tycoon in a Class 5A race over the sharp 1,150m.

This most recent training gallop would have sharpened him up, and he could be a factor in the race coming up.

Aside from the runners in that Open Maiden contest, the Class 4A event over the 1,400m - which will go off as Race 10 - could go the way of Red Dragonfly, who worked over the 600m in 38.8sec.

Trained by Ooi Chin Chin for the Red Dragon Stable, the son of Rubick has been a hard worker for his connections.

He has, to date, been to the races 32 times, which is impressive for a five-year-old.

The former Kranji galloper's claim to fame has to be the time he put together five wins in a row, beginning from Oct 26, 2024 to Jan 19, 2025.

He went on to add another to the list when winning a Class 4A race (1,400m) on Apr 5.

Since then, the wins have dried up and the best that Red Dragonfly has done over his last five runs have been a fourth to Eruption on April 27, and a third in another race over the 1,400m on Sept 14.

But that was a close affair and Red Dragonfly was just beaten 1½ lengths into third by the winner, Navy Seals.

Now, his Malaysian handler will be hoping that this most recent workout would serve to iron out some of the rough edges, which seem to have prevented his racer from getting that seventh win.

brian@sph.com.sg