One Ace and two Crowns for Team Dunderdale and Wong

KUALA LUMPUR – After being thrown into the mix in some big races of late, both Mega Ace and Anjou Crown returned to the winner’s circle with impressive wins at Sungai Besi on Oct 4, paving the way for a treble for the trainer-jockey partnership of Simon Dunderdale and Wong Chin Chuen.

Their other winner was Navarre Crown, who was sandwiched in between those two winners.

Mega Ace has been brilliant since making his debut late in 2025, culminating with his win in the 3YO Sprint Championship (1,200m) on June 14.

His first test in Class 1 resulted in a third to Vincent’s Star over 1,100m the following month and he was found wanting when he set the pace and faded to finish eighth to Platinum Emperor in the NZB Open Championship (1,400m) on Sept 5.

Back to sprinting in the Class 1 handicap (1,020m) on the No. 2 track on Oct 4, the Earthlight four-year-old was not the first to break or lead from the start but stayed in touch with the early pacemaker Pacific Vampire (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) in third spot.

But, halfway through the race, Wong decided to take matters into his own hands when he sent the $13 chance to the front.

Mega Ace kept up a bright gallop in the straight and was four lengths clear of the field at the 100m.

But, just as Mega Ace was being eased down in the closing stages, Vincent’s Star (Mohamed Lukman) flashed home to go within a neck of the winner.

Wong was later reminded of his obligation to ride his horses out fully to the end so as to leave no room for query from the stewards.

Anjou Crown ($10) was backing up in the Class 2 handicap (1,400m), just seven days after running fifth to Fortune Tree in the Group 1 Selangor Gold Cup (1,600m).

A maiden in Australia but placed in seven of 10 starts, the Exceed And Excel gelding won twice over 1,600m before running third to Aquitaine in the Selangor Mile (1,600m) on July 26.

Anjou Crown finished on board in three subsequent starts up to 1,800m.

As with his usual running style, the Buffalo Stable-owned galloper started in midfield in the seven-horse field with Banker’s Amazing (Farhan Ghazali) setting the pace from Come On Banker’s (Randy Tan) and Always A Gentleman (Fikri Ismail).

But, with the pace a trifle slow, Anjou Crown was caught three wide which prompted Wong to send the five-year-old to the front.

Anjou Crown led the rest of the way home, easily holding off Come On Banker’s, who tried to make a race of it in the final 200m. Anjou Crown won by 1¼ lengths.

In the Restricted Maiden race (1,200m), there was a keen tussle for the early lead but Navarre Crown ($9) quickly took charge and set the pace.

Loyalty Banker’s (Johari Kamaruddin) kept him company on his outside until the final 200m. There, Navarre Crown began to pull away and went on to win by 2½ lengths, stepping up on his debut second to Strategise three weeks ago.

With his latest treble, Wong has climbed to fourth to the table with 31 winners in less than three months since returning from South Korea.

Still leading the table is Bernardo Pinheiro with 38 winners, but the Brazilian has departed for his yearly stint in the United Arab Emirates at this time of the year.

Second on the premiership table is Wong Kam Chong (36 winners), who is still recovering from a race fall in late June while Lim Shung Uai is third with 34 winners. SELANGOR TURF CLUB / TURFONLINE