SUSPICIOUS MIND SHOWS GOOD TOE IN TRAINING

Gold Eighty-Three and Diamond Pegasus also looking in fine trim

- Brian Miller

His last run on Sept 29 was not too shabby. Sure, he finished only fourth in that Class 4 1,400m race won by Burgundy Bubbles. But, in fairness, Suspicious Mind had been dealt a bad hand.

First, he had to overcome a draw (gate 12) which left him in one of the outside gates in the 12-horse contest in Ipoh.

Then, when the race got under way, he had to fashion a run through a bunch of horses.

And when his rider, Suriya Arunsalam, finally managed to extricate him from the pack, his blistering finish just was not enough to secure him a spot in the top three.

Still, it was a good effort and his trainer, Ipoh-based Shanmugam Subramaniam, has kept him on his toes, hoping fully well that he holds on to the last-start form.

Well, his conditioner has done a good job, as was evident from his work ahead of the Perak Turf Club meeting on Oct 20.

Sent out for a gallop over the 600m, the Duporth gelding stopped the clock at 38sec. Suspicious Mind has had 24 starts for two wins, nine seconds and four thirds.

That last victory on Dec 17, 2023, came over the Ipoh mile.