Al Kazeem claims thrilling victory in bet365.com Gordon Richards Stakes
Al Kazeem managed to meet the expectations of his team by winning the bet365.com Gordon Richards Stakes (Group 3) at Sandown in England on Saturday, April 27, 2013. He was declared as the favourite to succeed and finished on top of the table in the end,
claiming a cash prize of £34,026.00.
There were some decent challengers up against him, so it was quite difficult for him to live up to the expectations of everyone. Despite being under some much pressure, he was rated as the outright favourite to succeed and entered the contest with a starting
price of 9 to 4.
Luckily for him, he did not have to face any problem with the track conditions, as the going was described as good by the organisers. However, he did not get an ideal start to the all important encounter and struggled to some extent.
There was immense pressure on him and it seemed that some of his rivals would end up taking advantage of his bad start in the race. Despite that, he stayed calm and knew that the distance to cover was over one mile, so stamina would come into play towards
the final few yards.
The five-year-old colt preserved some energy for the ending moments of the race and pressed hard to take lead right towards the finishing moments. He was successful by just one length in the end, so his fans would have had their hearts in mouth.
Winning trainer Roger Charlton said: “We know he gets a mile and a half, but a mile and a quarter is a more commercial distance, and as long as he can win at a mile and a quarter he'll stick to that. He'll probably go for the Tattersalls Gold Cup [at the
Curragh on May 26] and then Royal Ascot.”
On the other hand, his jockey James Doyle was also happy with the outcome of the race and stated, “He travelled so well and got there so easily. He was bound to be a bit rusty after being off so long, and he idled a bit in front.”
This was overall the fourth victory for Al Kazeem, who has participated in a total of nine events until now.
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