Expatriate New Zealander Simon Dunderdale has claimed his maiden Malaysian trainers’ premiership, celebrating his most successful year based in Kuala Lumpur.
The well-travelled Dunderdale, who trained in Turkiye for a decade prior to relocating to the Selangor Turf Club in the Malaysia capital eight years ago, prepared 73 winners in 2024, 26 ahead of his nearest rival HY Cheng.
Nick Selvan finished third with 42 winners at a time where the trainers’ line-up at Selangor has an influx of former Kranji-based trainers following the closure of racing in Singapore in October.
Dunderdale, who hails from Manawatu, won a Selangor Gold Cup, a Sports Toto and the four-year-old championship as well as training five winners in a day at one meeting and twice preparing a quartet of winners to cement his place at the top of the trainers’ table.
Antipodean, a New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale graduate, was a revelation for Dunderdale in 2024, winning nine of his 10 starts to emerge as arguably Malaysia’s most exciting horse, while his stablemate Military Flag, another NZB graduate, won five races for the calendar year.
As well as training the most winners in 2024, Dunderdale also had the highest winning strike rate of any trainer in Malaysia inside the top 20, running at 20.8 per cent with his stable of 60 horses, the maximum allowed at Selangor.
Dunderdale, who also worked for four years in Macau before heading to Europe for an extended period, has a wide base of owners from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and Hong Kong with his stable banking more than 1.6 million ringgit in prize money last year, almost double the amount won by any other trainer in the country.
“I’ve had great support from my owners over the past couple of years which has enabled me to grow my stable and also consistently invest in new horses at live sales in Australia and New Zealand as well as at the regular online auctions,” Dunderdale said.
“The prize money at Selangor is doubling in 2025, which makes racing in Malaysia a far more attractive option for owners, and I’m excited about what the future holds for the sport here after going through a difficult period during Covid.”
Among Dunderdale’s recent haul of six at November’s NZB Ready to Run Sale was the $70,000 US Navy Flag half-brother to Group One-winning stallion Turn Me Loose.
Premiership runner-up Cheng, who worked for John and Karen Parsons and Stephen Blair-Edie over a nine-year period, closed out 2024 by winning the local Gr.1 Penang Gold Cup (2000m) on Sunday with Lucky Magic, also an NZB Ready to Run graduate.
Dunderdale’s compatriot Sharee Hamilton trained 35 winners for the year to finish seventh in the Malaysia trainers’ title.
In an effort to raise the profile of the sport in Malaysia, meanwhile, the Selangor Turf Club will host a new 1 million ringgit Mile Championship for four-year-olds for the first time on July 20 this year, an aspirational race aimed at encouraging new owners to invest in young horses.
Malaysia is a jurisdiction that has previously largely relied on a steady supply of aging tried stock from Singapore.