The first to make his debut is Penang’s Roslan bin Pawanteh, who rose through the ranks in three decades in the industry.

Roslan began his career in 1974 as a stable-hand and has worked under such distinguished trainers as (Dato Seri) Teh Choon Beng, the late "Doc" Rodgers and his son Alex.

In 2001, he was granted an assistant trainer’s licence and has been attached to Cecil Robert, Lim Hoon Seng and Wong Kong Fatt before he was granted a trainer’s licence by the Malayan Racing Association (MRA) last month.

Roslan, who has been granted 20 stables by the Penang Turf Club, has entered six horses for the Tunku Gold Cup Meeting at Kuala Lumpur beginning tomorrow.

Also slated to make their debuts in the comings weeks are cousins Evert van Breukelen and Gary van Breukelen.

Evert is the younger brother of Marinus van Breukelen, champion trainer in 2003 and 2004, and second to Lee Yoke Bill last year. Evert has been assistant to his brother for several years and will set up shop in Ipoh.

Gary is actually making a second comeback to the local scene.

In 1980, he became the youngest ever to be granted a trainer’s licence but relinquished his licence on June 30, 1986. During this time, he won back-to-back Tunku Gold Cup with VALLEY FAME, on both occasions ridden by Leslie Khoo, now an established trainer based in Ipoh.

Gary was away for two years, then made a comeback in 1988. However, his second stint ended in July 1991.

Gary then moved to Macau but a year later decided to shift to Perth. In his more than a decade in Australia, Gary was also involved in trading horses. He took up a licence in the 2003/04 season and had a small team in work at Ascot.