The set-weight event was advertised as a matchup between last season’s sensations Antipodean and Witnessimpact, even though it also featured the debut of former Singapore heavyweights Super Salute and Big Hearted. Antipodean, who was trained by Simon Dunderdale and won nine of his ten starts, was the clear favorite. Witnessimpact, his former stablemate, was the strong second choice in the betting, having gone undefeated for four runs prior to his match in a Metro A 1,200m event last October 26. The rest of the 12-horse field started at long odds, and the race went as many had anticipated.
Veteran galloper Violet (Khaw Choon Kit), Witnessimact (Jerlyn Seow) and Super Salute (Saifudin Ismail) were the first away, while Antipodean (Shafiq Rizuan) was also quick to take up an early position.
Witnessimpact, who was racing for the first time since May 18, surged to the front after settling down to lead from Violet and Super Salute. Antipodean, who was keeping a close eye on those ahead, then broke away to a three-length lead going into the straight, with Super Salute and Violet still in the chase and Antipodean looking to wind up for his challenge. With Seow’s strong encouragement, Witnessimpact continued to lead at the 200m and was five lengths ahead of the chasing pack at one point. Violet quickly dropped out of the chase, leaving Super Salute in second place while Antipodean was just getting into top gear in the final 200m but it was too late.
Super Salute, the three-time Group winner from Singapore, had a strong effort at his racing comeback, but Witnessimpact raced to the line and won him by a clear 2½ lengths. The 2020 Singapore Gold Cup champion Big Hearted (Tham Kin Chong), who finished in fifth place, and Macau import Who Love To Dance (Jackson Low Kang Cheng), who stormed home late to finish fourth, both attracted attention. “After a break, it was a strong win,” Dunderdale remarked. “He (Witnessimpact) continues to get better. Jerlyn provided an excellent ride as well.All things considered, Witnessimpact’s victory was quite pleasing.He appeared well at the (winning) trial on December 31 and, given his low weight of 55.5 kg, we were very certain he would at least make it to the top three in this strong field.
“I think the light weight helped. He is a lovely horse. It was Seow’s first time riding the five-year-old Star Witness. After finishing fourth in four of nine starts in Australia, the gelding arrived in Malaysia as a maiden and has since won five of six races there. Clyde Leck, a former apprentice jockey from Kranji, kept the riding title in the family by winning a hat-trick of races. In Race 3, he won his first race aboard From The Navy ($21) for his cousin Joseph Leck. Four races later, he won again for his father, Charles Leck, in Bintang Sixty-One ($33). The 2022 Malaysian champion apprentice/senior jockey wrapped up the day in the last race with Naughty Kid ($17) for Joseph Leck.
