Fortune Tree comes out tops in Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup

Fortune Tree has stamped himself as one of the top gallopers in Malaysia after getting the wood on his rivals in the RM300,000 (S$94,000) Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m) at Sungai Besi on Sept 27.

The son of Ardrossan made winning look easy at his last-start five-length win in the Magic Millions Trophy (1,200m) on Sept 13 when he took out his first race from three starts for trainer Cheng Han Yong.

Previously when under the care of Richard Lim, Fortune Tree first put his name on the roll of honours after his neck-victory in the first leg of the Malaysian Triple Crown series, the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) on March 29.

Now ridden by Shafiq Rizuan, who has won thrice on him before, Fortune Tree again proved he was formidable in the second leg.

The $25 shot jumped swiftly from barrier 8 and hit the front not long after the gates opened, but a few other runners had designs on the lead too.

It was the Simon Dunderdale-trained Eruption (Uzair Sharudin) who took up the bunny’s role in the back straight.

Banker’s First (Randy Tan), who was backing up after capturing the Listed Charity Cup (1,200m) in Ipoh on Sept 20, sat in second momentarily, until Pacific Energy (Lim Shung Uai), Banker’s Kingdom (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) and Banker’s Boss (Farhan Ghazali) raced past him before the turn.

Shafiq bided his time in sixth outside of Banker’s First, before the field of 13 rounded the turn for home.

While the pair of Eruption and Pacific Energy floundered after setting a scorcher in front, Fortune Tree loomed large with acres of land ahead of him at the 300m.

But the Selangor Gold Cup was no low-hanging fruit.

Banker’s First was the first to pounce when he sneaked up on the fence, while Banker’s Honor (Johari Kamaruddin) and Anjou Crown (Bernardo Pinheiro) motored home quickly on his outside.

Still, Fortune Tree was dogged and valiantly held on by three parts of a length from Banker’s Honor in the end. Banker’s First finished another neck away in third.

Dunerdale’s Selangor Mile (1,600m) winner Aquitaine (Wong Chin Chuen) also caught the eye when he flew home from last to finish a smack-up fourth, just ahead of stablemate Anjou Crown.

The winning time was 1min 33.85sec for the 1,600m on the long course.

Cheng was thrilled when Fortune Tree brought up his second success in the Selangor feature after Lucky Magic won it in 2025.

He hopes to run Fortune Tree in the Group 1 Piala Emas Sultan Selangor (2,000m) at Sungai Besi on Dec 6.

And should the Lee Swee Eng-owned New Zealand-bred contests and wins the final leg, he will become the first Triple Crown winner in Malaysia since the series’ inception in 2003.

“We would love to do it over the 2,000m (in the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor) end of the year,” said Cheng, who has chalked up 43 wins this season.

“But I’ll see how he pulls up and works the next few weeks before we decide. It would be great if he becomes the first Triple Crown winner.

“He was already warmed up and very fit after his last win, so our plan was to sit him in midfield. Shafiq found a very good spot and rode a very good race.”

The Malaysian jockey has just returned to race-riding on the Sept 26 meeting – when he won aboard the Jason Ong-trained Outfit ($26) in the Class 5 opener (1,150m) – after three months of suspension.

“He (Fortune Tree) jumped too quick at first, but did everything by himself,” said the former two-time Singapore champion apprentice jockey.

“Around the turn, I know he still has a lot underneath and plenty of chances to win the race.

“When we had to go, I pressed the button and he just kept going.

“I think as he relaxes, he can get more ground and get there (2,000m) eventually.”

Wong, who pulled off a brace courtesy of All The Way North ($10) and Pacific Reef ($28) on Sept 27, took the riding honours on Sept 26 when he bagged a quintet of wins, his biggest haul in a meeting since returning from South Korea in late July.

The in-form rider landed the highlight Class 2 event (1,200m) atop Navarre ($13), and also saluted on Lightning Gal ($13) and Robertian ($16) for Dunderdale, as well as the Ooi Chin Chin-trained Gold Medal Rose ($34) and the Richard Lines-trained Clout ($13).