Navarre Regent should reign supreme again

There is a new kid on the block and, judging from what we have seen of him so far, he looks ready to stir things up at the Selangor Turf Club.

A son of Super Seth from trainer Simon Dunderdale’s yard, Navarre Regent won on debut and there certainly is more from where that came from.

The three-year-old gelding, who has been entered for the Class 4 sprint (1,100m) on Oct 17, was out on the training track bright and early on Oct 13 and he came away from that workout looking in fine shape.

Ridden by bang-in-form jockey Wong Chin Chuen, Navarre Regent trotted a short distance before turning on the style to run the 600m in 36.9sec.

The New Zealand-bred joined Dunderdale’s team on Feb 3 and, after four smart trials, Dunderdale sent him to the races on Aug 22.

Ridden by Liam Riordan, he made every post a winning one and cruised in to take the honours by 5¼ lengths.

After a break of 45 days, Dunderdale sent his charge to yet another trial. That was on Oct 6 and although he finished fifth behind the winner Mega Velocity, Navarre Regent was never asked to do anything more than what was necessary.

With that fine piece of work under his girth, the new kid can blitz his Class 4 rivals second-up.

Also looking to light up the afternoon on Oct 17 is his stablemate Rail Trail.

The son of Alabama Express showed excellent speed when running the 600m in 36.9sec.

Rail Trail also won on debut in a Class 3 race (1,020m) in Malaysia on Sept 5. However, he failed to make it two from two when, at his second start in a Class 2 event on Sept 27, he only managed fourth.

But there were excuses. Ridden by Bernardo Pinheiro, the five-year-old gelding was obliged to race wide for most of the 1,200m trip. Still, he stuck to the task and made the board.

Until being shipped out to join Dunderdale’s team, Rail Trail had 10 starts in Australia where he posted one win.

That was on April 14, 2025 and it was an 1,100m race run on a soft track.

Rail Trail is the first of four reserves in the upcoming Class 2 race (1,100m).

Should he get a spot in the starting gates, he could be the one the rest might have to beat.

Among “the rest” in the highlight race on Oct 17, two are with excellent credentials.

They are Cool Sixty-One and Gold Medal Rose. Both showed good form in their workouts.

We saw Cool Sixty-One do the 600m under Mohd Zaki in a flashy 37.7sec while Gold Medal Rose was not extended when running the same trip in 40sec.

Trained by Jason Lim, Cool Sixty-One’s last four races produced two wins and a second.

However, there were excuses when the Vespa eight-year-old last ran an uncharacteristic seventh to Come On Banker’s in a Class 2 race (1,200m) on Sept 5.

The steward’s report stated that “he raced detached from the field in the early and middle stages of the race”. We know the nine-time winner is better than that.

As for the Ooi Chin Chin-trained Gold Medal Rose, her last-start win in a Class 3 contest (1,100m) on Sept 26 earned her a promotion to Class 2.

The Wrote five-year-old mare has her work cut out for her but she is as honest as they come and, with a lightweight of 52kg, she could be anything she wants to be.