Siva claims first Group 1 win with Noah Khan in Kuala Lumpur
Sharon Zhang
Malaysian trainer Siva Kumar has bagged his first Group 1 victory in seven years of training in Malaysia, after Noah Khan produced a strong finish to land the spoils in the RM300,000 (S$89,900) Group 1 Equine Sanctuary Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) at Sungai Besi on March 16.
After a surprising 5¼-length win in a Supreme A race over the same trip on Feb 23, the Swiss Ace six-year-old has trained on to beat better-fancied rivals like the 2024 Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m) winner Antipodean, smart sprinter Witnessimpact and the 2025 Wilayah Silver Bowl Trophy (1,200m) winner Platinum Emperor in the first leg of the Malaysian Triple Crown series.
Ridden by Andre da Silva for the first time, Noah Khan jumped on terms from barrier five in the field of 14 but he could not match motors with noted front runner Pacific Vampire (Laercio de Souza), who shot to the lead from the innermost gate.
Platinum Fort (Harmeet Singh Gill), an eight-time winner in Macau - including the 2023 Group 1 Chairman's Challenge Cup (1,200m) - when known as Famous Jonathn, was up on the pace early at his Kuala Lumpur debut for trainer Ricky Choi Chun Wai.
The Deep Field five-year-old followed in second behind Pacific Vampire in the back straight, with Arigato (Lim Shung Uai) in third and Noah Khan eyeing the leading pack in fourth.
Approaching the home straight, Pacific Vampire started to draw clear with a commanding break but the Jason Ong-trained galloper soon buckled under pressure.
Platinum Fort motored home steadily in the crucial stages while Noah Khan also began to loom large on the outside.
Past the 200m, Noah Khan ($47) was set alight before pulling away to a 1½-length win. Antipodean (Wong Chin Chuen), who was smothered up in midfield early, made his dash a tad too late at the 300m to run second.
Choi's second runner, Platinum Emperor (Nuqman Rozi) was not disgraced at his second run in Malaysia. The last-start winner let down from near last to run third another 3¼ lengths away, just edging past his stablemate Platinum Fort, who missed the podium finish by ¾ length.
The winning time was 1min 9.03sec for the 1,200m on the short course.
Owned by Latif Khan, Noah Khan raced for two seasons as Roland Garros in New Zealand, managing one third from seven starts. He then won once in eight starts under Lim Shung You before moving to Siva's stable.
The 55-year-old trainer, who trains 23 horses in his yard, was only at his fourth win of the year.
Before this, Siva pulled off a double on Feb 23 with Billy Elliot and Noah Khan, who proved that his last win was no fluke with his first success in the Group 1 race on March 16.
Siva was thrilled at Noah Khan's fifth win for him.
"It's the first big Cup for me (in seven years of training)," said Siva, who began his racing career as a syce in 1992.
"This horse improved bit by bit every month.
"He got a good barrier and the jockey (da Silva) also rode him very well. I want to thank the owner and the Selangor Turf Club for their support for me."
Da Silva, who previously claimed the Group 1 Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Penang Gold Cup (2,000m) with Lucky Magic at Batu Gantong in December 2024, had a fruitful day with a hat-trick of wins at the 13-race meeting on March 16.
The Brazilian had earlier posted a double for trainer Jerome Tan after Baby Twins ($22) and Energy Baby ($31) saluted in the Equine Sanctuary Wood Shavings Stakes (1,100m) and the Robank Equine Stakes (1,200m) respectively before Noah Khan's triumph in the main event.
Meanwhile, two visiting jockeys also did not return empty-handed at their one-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur, even if their mounts did not salute in the Tunku Gold Cup.
Based in South Korea, Wong finished second to Noah Khan in the Tunku Gold Cup atop the Tiang Kim Choi-trained Antipodean, but he had earlier ridden the Malaysian trainer's Yes Man ($19) to an all-the-way win in the RM45,000 Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj Stakes, a Class 4B contest (1,100m) in Race 4.
The Kedah-born rider, who is based in Seoul, has recently claimed his first feature race in Seoul aboard Crown Hamseong in the Listed Segye Ilbo Trophy (1,200m) on Feb 16.
Marc Lerner, who relocated to New Zealand after the closure of Singapore racing last October, was offered a ride by Parama Sivan Veerapen in the Tunku Gold Cup, Super Salute. The three-time Singapore Group winner jumped from the outermost gate 14 and launched his final assault from out wide before he made some ground to run seventh.
Despite the disappointing result for the French jockey in his main assignment, he still made his trip worthwhile with a well-timed run astride Sivan's One Abracadabra ($72) to take out the RM45,000 Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park Stakes, a Class 4B event (1,100m) in Race 5.
Known as Seamlessly at Kranji, One Abracadabra won once over the 1,400m on Dec 30, 2023. The Fabulous five-year-old has since gone on to win four more races at Sungai Besi.
sharonzhang@sph.com.sg
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