Ridden by Grant Cooksley, the eight-year-old chestnut New Zealand gelding by Jetball out of the Sir Tristram mare Delia’s Choice defeated XTHEREST (7 br.nz.g Kashani - Chantal Marie by Grosvenor) with SOLO VENTURE (6 b.a.g Flying Spur - Hermitage Lane by Balmerino) third of 13 runners.

At 2400m, the Perak Derby is the longest of the classic races staged in Malaysia and Singapore and OPPOSING FORCE had proven himself time and again over the gruelling journey.

OPPOSING FORCE won the handicap event with ony 50kg in 2001 but proved that the win was no fluke when he became the first double winner a year later with 56.5kg on his back. He was then trained by Bonny Ng and was later transferred to Richard Lines when the Englishman obtained his licence.

A win in the MRA Cup in 2002 and a subsequent victory in the Sprint Trophy in 2002 made him the highest rated galloper in the circuit.

OPPOSING FORCE had to shoulder 58.5kg in 2003 when he finished fourth to BABY CHAMPION in 2003 and last year, he ran a gallant second to HUMPHREY with 59kg.

In the past three seasons, hardly a classic race went by without OPPOSING FORCE featuring in the finish. But it took a change of trainer to Tiang Kim Choi early last year for him to regain his winning edge.