After several tries and a couple of near misses in the feature races, Kong Fu Panda (NZ) (Showcasing) finally landed the knock-out blow when he revelled on a very wet track to win the RM150,000 BYD Ipoh Gold Vase over 1100m at Perak Turf Club in Malaysia on Sunday.
With in-form jockey Rizuan Shafiq in the saddle, Kong Fu Panda raced in midfield till the course proper. At the 400m he had worked to be just behind the leaders before drawing clear to win by two and three-quarters lengths.
After taking local racing by storm with seven wins in 2021 and 2022, the son of Showcasing beat all but Black Thorn (NZ) (Redwood) in the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m) in 2022.
The New Zealand gelding gave some very good performances against the best last year but was placed six times without winning.
Kong Fu Panda finally returned to the winner’s circle in March when he won the Chairman’s Trophy, a race restricted to five-year-olds & below over 1400m at Selangor.
Kong Fu Panda was headed for victory in the Tunku Gold Cup (1200m) a month later but was caught on the line by Cheval Blanc (Red Jazz), beaten by a head.
“He was unlucky when beaten a head by Cheval Blanc in the Tunku Gold Cup,” said trainer Tiang Kim Choi.
“He worked well on Tuesday but with the rain today, I didn’t know how he was going to handle the going. In the end, it was a very impressive performance on the soft track. He won convincingly, he’s a fighter and there will be more wins coming from him.
Kong Fu Panda, a grandson of Gr.1 Thorndon Mile winner Silver Chalice (NZ) (St Hilarion), has now taken his record to nine wins and ten placings from 30 starts.
“I didn’t do much on him today”, said jockey Rizuan Shafiq who had a winning double with Golden Cup (NZ) (Turn Me Loose) in the opening race.
“He travelled well behind the leaders and when he got to better ground in the last 300m, he went into another gear. No one’s going to catch him today, he was just too good.
“I was not worried about the (soft) going because I know the horse well. He could handle it and run all day.”
Kong Fu Panda was sold out of the draft of Martindale Stud at the 2020 Karaka Book 2 Sale then sold by Kilmore Farm at the Ready To Run Sale where trainer Tiang Kim Choi paid NZ$38,000 for the son of Showcasing.
