Good Star Primed for a Bold Run in Merdeka Cup

Champion trainer Dunderdale's Shinjuku also puts in a solid gallop in Kuala Lumpur

- Brian Miller

Good Star was a "good thing beaten" when he had to settle for third to the talented four-year-old Duma at his last start in a Class 3 race (1,400m) on Aug 9.

That day, under Uzair Sharudin, the Mahadi Taib-trained galloper ran home in the torrential rain, albeit he did lay in a few times in the home straight.

Fans who supported the $13 race favourite took a beating.

At his second-last start in the RM1 million (S$305,000) Selangor Mile (1,600m) at Sungai Besi on July 20, when he went up against some of the best four-year-old milers in Malaysia, the five-year-old son of Shalaa came up short by a neck to trainer Winson Cheng Han Yong's dual Group 1 winner, Lucky Magic.

Connections fired in a protest for interference after the race, but stewards dismissed it.

But his Singaporean conditioner would not have lost much sleep over the two let-downs, given the former Australian galloper's, when known as Pride Of Shalaa, good records in Kuala Lumpur.

In five starts in the Malaysian capital, Good Star has produced one win, two seconds and two thirds.

He has also won once over 1,500m in Australia previously.