KUALA LUMPUR – Irish import Jinling Starblitz made it two wins from two starts in Malaysia, with a polished performance in the RM50,000 (S$16,000) Open Maiden event over 1,400m at Sungai Besi on May 3.
The Inns Of Court galloper was still erratic when defeating the Simon Dunderdale-trained Aquitaine by ¾ length in a similar race over 1,250m on debut on April 12.
Ridden again by Benny Woodworth, the four-year-old gelding raced more generously this time.
Jinling Starblitz ($8) was among the first to break in the set-weight event.
It was, however, the fleet-footed Winning Done (Aify Yahaya) who set the pace from Solidasarock (Haikal Hanif) and Mega Grandeur (Lim Shung Uai).
Woodworth settled Jinling Starblitz in fourth spot one-off the rails.
The Ooi Chin Chin-trained Solidasarock took over the lead from Winning Done at the 1,000m mark, with Jinling Starblitz moving effortlessly up into third.
Solidasarock led into the straight with Jinling Starblitz, Winning Done and Pacific Fighter (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) forming a line of three just on his outside, half a length away.
The four horses fought it out in a line from the 400m, with Jinling Starblitz taking a narrow lead at the 300m.
He then pulled away to a clear lead 100m out and saw off the late challenge from Pacific Fighter to win by ¾ length second-up.
Solidasarock, who has yet to open his account in 12 starts, held on for third.
Jinling Starblitz raced as No Such Thing in Ireland and was trained by Ross O’Sullivan. He was consistent, recording four seconds and two thirds in 11 starts, but failed to make any breakthrough.
But, after transferring to the former Macau-based Ricky Choi Chun Wai in November 2025, Jinling Starblitz quickly followed up with a win on debut after finishing third in a barrier trial in March.
He is no world-beater, but Choi was pleased with the Royal Apex Stables-owned gelding’s progress in his new environment.
“He has improved since his debut win,” said Choi, who has posted eight wins this season.
“He raced more generously this time and has a lot more room for improvement.”
Regular partner Woodworth said Jinling Starblitz overraced slightly in the earlier part of the race, but still showed his will to win in the end.
“He (Jinling Starblitz) jumped well and was a bit keen in the back straight but eventually settled down and travelled well,” he said.
“We were taken wide at the home turn but he fought on well all the way in the straight. It was a good win.”
After Jinling Starblitz’s victory in the fourth race on the 10-race meeting, the remaining six races had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE
