Gemix upsets Solwhit in Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil – Horseracing News
Gemix caused a huge upset in the Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil (Hurdle) (Group 1) by defeating Solwhit at Auteuil in France.
The latter of the two stallions was rated as the favourite to succeed and entered the competition with a starting price of 14 to 5. The punters had immense confidence in his abilities, thus placed quite a few bets in his favour,
but they ended up being disappointed from the outcome of the race.
Rain had made the ground very soft, which meant that all of the runners had to push harder than normal to make an impression. Moreover, the overall distance to cover for them was more than three miles, which made things even more
challenging.
The winning stallion had also been given a pretty decent starting price of 29 to 10 but he was not expected to be dominant. However, he took everyone by surprise, winning the race by a staggering margin of eight lengths.
Nicolas Bertran de Balanda, the victorious trainer, was delighted with the outcome of the race and said about his runner, “He was perfect, I can't say anything else. I was confident because he was relaxed. He was imperious, he
was always breathing well and he jumped brilliantly. David (jockey) let the others come to him on the final turn but I knew this horse has the capacity to accelerate away again. It's just magnificent.”
This was Gemix’s seventh victory overall and the third of this season. He has been doing a terrific job for his camp since the start of the year and seems to have improved his game to a great deal.
On the other hand, runner up jockey Davy Russell was not majorly disappointed with the result and praised his stallion by saying, “He did everything well and he was giving away 5lb so he's run his race. The man in charge [trainer
Charles Byrnes] is a genius, he doesn't get the credit he deserves - he never has him anything other than spot on.”
The 2013 season has been a very good one for Solwhit, as he has managed to win three out of four races. The conditions were probably too tough for him, but he still secured a decent result for his team.
Tags: