|
|
Frank Maynard Jr. will be
moving base to the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur after spending five
years in Penang.
With champion owner Gold Plus Stable’s decision last week to move all his
horses, numbering around 40, from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, the former Perth
trainer has little choice but to follow suit as Gold Plus Stable is his
biggest patron.
With the backing of Tan Thong Lai of Gold Plus Stable, Maynard won the
Malaysian premiership last year with 49 winners. The effort earned him a
“prize” of RM100,000 under the Penang Turf Club’s incentive scheme for
trainers. A repeat this year would earn him RM200,000. But without Tan’s
support, there is a slim chance of that happening.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make.” said Maynard. “The Penang Turf Club
has been instrumental in getting me started in Malaysia and I will always
remember that. I am going to leave Penang with a heavy heart.”
Maynard, who has been granted 40 stables at Sungei Besi racecourse, will be
taking 25 horses with him to his new base, including top gallopers JERAM NEW
VILLAGE and JERAM SPECIAL.
With Maynard’s departure and Wong Kong Fatt’s earlier decision to move to
Ipoh, Penang is left with only eight trainers, seven locals and one
expatriate in Richard Lines.
Gold Plus Stable is the third big name owners to leave Penang in recent
years. Hydrocarbon Stable has not replenished his string in Malaysia. All
his recent imports are headed for Singapore while a couple of discards were
transferred to Kuala Lumpur recently.
Dragon Stable pulled out his entire string from Penang abruptly two years
ago and now races exclusively in Singapore.  |
