Legends Never Fade shows a lot of spark

At seven years old, Legends Never Fade may be getting on in years, but, like his new name may suggest, he is not quite done yet.

Trainer Lawson Moy and his owner Tan Cheong Soon brought him to Malaysia over from Hong Kong where he carved a pretty decent career for trainer Danny Shum, when known as Denfield.

Granted, his last win was way back in October, 2024, but his new Malaysian connections have no reasons to believe they cannot resurrect some of the glory days which saw him greet the judge three times at the Happy Valley racecourse.

Following an introductory barrier trial on Sept 8, when Legends Never Fade finished fourth to Superpower, Malaysian racegoers got their second glimpse at the trials on the morning of Sept 22.

After sitting comfortably aboard early on in the trial, apprentice jockey Fikri Ismadi received an instant response when he applied some pressure at the business end.

Without being hard ridden, the son of Deep Field collared trainer Tiang Kim Choi’s 97-point rater Yes Man (Jose de Souza) to eventually gain the upper hand by a neck.

If onlookers needed more convincing, the time returned by the gallant campaigner would have swayed their opinions.

On a track rated “yielding”, Legends Never Fade ran out the 1,000m in a really smart time of 59.35sec.

Connections have yet to nominate him for a race in Malaysia but when they do, and if it is over the 1,200m, the winning trip of his three wins, all at Happy Valley, it could lead to a happy outcome.

As for Yes Man, although beaten into second spot, his effort was the needed nod of approval for a veterinary test.

The son of Yes Yes Yes was found to have bled when running a gallant fourth to the 119-point rater, Platinum Emperor, in the Korea Racing Authority Trophy (1,200m) on June 14.

The nine-time winner will be eligible to compete whenever Tiang decides to send him to the races.

Also passing a vet test was newcomer Banker’s Bonus

Ridden by Joe Kamaruddin in his hit-out, the Lucky Vega four-year-old was shouted the winner at the furlong mark, but in the end took second spot, beaten half-a-length by Simon Dunderdale’s newcomer Huddl Hawk (Wong Chin Chuen) in a heads up-heads-down dash to the finish.

Huddl Hawk, a four-year-old by Cosmic Force, who was having a starting stall test and racing with pacifiers, ran 11 times as Cosmonaut in New South Wales where the best he did was a second at his last start in Nowra on Feb 22.

His debut should not be far off, while Banker’s Bonus’ search for that first Malaysian victory will continue in the Class 5A sprint over the 1,250m in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 26.

Judging from his effort at the second trial on Sept 22, the wait for that elusive moment should not take too long.

From six starts – all at the Selangor Turf Club – the best that Banker’s Bonus has to show for has been three third-placings.

He is better than that and, with the high-flying Banker’s Stable firing on all cylinders, he could soon join the club.