Nimbus Star in great trim at barrier trials

Nimbus Star took second in his trial at the Selangor Turf Club on Sept 15, beaten by the much higher-rated Aquitaine.

But, it was still a fairly clear suggestion he would not be playing a bit part at his next start.

The 62-point rater battled all the way over the 1,000m and was only passed by the Simon Dunderdale-trained Aquitaine (Jose de Souza) over the last 100m.

The Time Test seven-year-old eventually went down by 1½ lengths but it was only because jockey Harmeet Singh Gill did the right thing by not pushing him unnecessarily and instead just allowing him to coast to the line under his own steam.

No doubt, full marks to the winner who ran a charm of a trial in a smart time of 59.54sec, coming from fourth at the top of the straight to power home.

Aquitaine, being along with stablemate Antipodean, one of the stars now residing at Sungai Besi’s Dunderdale yard, he would have been the obvious top pick of that first trial.

But hats off to Nimbus Star for not giving up the fight. On that gutsy effort, the Richard Lim-trained two-time winner could well be on his way to padding up his current haul.

Nimbus Star is not getting any younger, but he is still a force to be reckoned with, as he showed on June 28 when winning a Class 4A sprint over the 1,200m.

It earned him a promotion to Class 3 and he immediately served notice that he was not going to be intimidated.

Indeed, he went out there and in his first foray in Class 3 on Aug 2, he took third behind Yes Boss Yes.

A fortnight later, on Aug 16, Lim sent Nimbus Star out to do battle and again, he made the board, finishing a smack-up third in a race won by the very talented Pacific Wave.

Nimbus Star may have had some issues during a 10-month break from August 2025 to June this year, but all that seems to be a thing of the past.

Indeed, this most recent trial would have topped him up sufficiently for a forward showing whenever Lim decides to next send him to the races.

A third Malaysian win may well be forthcoming.

Also impressive was an unnamed runner from trainer Charles Leck’s yard.

A three-year-old chestnut by Anders, he was having his first official trial in Malaysia and he really did put up a show.

Ridden by Ruzaini Supien, he sat in the slipstream of Valerie Pegasus and only made his move at the furlong mark.

He then showed grit when Valerie Pegasus (Mohamed Lukman) staged a fightback, digging in to get the verdict by a neck.

In his first foray, this newcomer to Malaysian racing returned a smart time of 59.69sec, and bears watching on his Malaysian racing debut.

Another youngster who seems to be getting into stride is Rich Merchant, who took the third trial in impressive fashion and, in the process stopped the clock at 59.51sec.

Trained by Ooi Chin Chin and ridden by Simon Kok Wei Hoong, the D’Argento three-year-old showed good early speed and when he did open up at the 300m mark, he simply flew home.

At the end of that 1,000m sprint, he put six lengths between himself and the second-placed runner, another yet-to-be-named galloper from Leck’s yard, this time by Bivouac and also paired up with Ruzaini.

Rich Merchant has not shown much since he arrived at Ooi’s stables on Sept 20. On his debut on Aug 30, he was well beaten into an inauspicious seventh in a race of nine runners.

But the way he dismantled his rivals in this most recent trial has now given us an insight into his potential, one which could soon help the youngster pay for his keep.