IPOH,  Feb 27, 2010

KIKO’S RETURN, who performed consistently in the big races last year, was named Malaysian Horse Of The Year in 2009 while mighty mare JOLIE’S SHINJU was voted Singapore Horse Of The Year at the MRA 2009 Awards gala dinner here tonight.

KIKO’S RETURN (Minardi - Joe’s Girl by Amalgam) got off to a flying start in 2009 when he captured the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m). He then finished third in the Sultan Perak Silver Jubilee Trophy (1600m), third in the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor (2000m) and was second in the Perak Derby (2400m) before regaining his winnig form in the Coronation Cup (1600m) from just seven starts during the year.

KIKO’S RETURN got the nod ahead of HAPPY VICTORY (King’s Best - Bylaw by Lear Fan), winner of the Tunku Gold Cup (1200m) and Sultan Perak Silver Jubilee Trophy, and RAUL (Hideyoshi - Whisper To Me by Beau Sovereign), who at the ripe old age of 10 captured the Astro Wah Lai Toi Charity Cup (2000m) and Yang Di Pertua Negeri Gold Cup (2200m) during the 2009 season.

Japanese mare JOLIE’S SHINJU (Jolie’s Halo - Endearing Quality by Danzig) picked up five wins last year but it was the way she annihilated her rivals to win all three legs of the Singapore Four-Year-Old series — the Patrons’ Bowl (1400m), Derby Trial (1600m) and Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m) — which got her the votes ahead of ROCKET MAN.

ROCKET MAN (Viscount - Macrosa by McGinty) also had an outstanding season last year, winning four of his five starts including the Lion City Cup, and was a gallant second to Hong Kong’s SACRED KINGDOM in the KrisFlyer International Sprint (1200m) which was run in a new course record time.

The other nominee for the award was WAIKATO (Pins - Skywalker Wilkes by Skywalker), winner of the Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) and Panasonic Kranji Mile (1600m).