Gloomy Sunday stuns rivals in Seymour Pierce Henry II Stakes – Horseracing News
Gloomy Sunday took a surprise victory in the Seymour Pierce Henry II Stakes (Group 3) at Sandown in England on Thursday, May 30, 2013.
The four-year-old filly did not start the race as a favourite, as she was given a general starting price of 20 to 1. Despite that, she managed to outshine her rivals and bag a cash prize of £34,026 for her owners.
Although there were some extremely good runners taking part in the class-1 encounter, everyone was under immense pressure because of the good soft track conditions.
However, some of the participants like Gloomy Sunday saw this as an opportunity and caused an upset in the end.
The winning trainer Christophe Ferland stated, “The rain did not matter as she goes on soft ground. We came here as it's a Group 3 and the only race for her in France was a Group 2 at Longchamp last Sunday and
we thought this would be easier and it was quite exciting to come over.”
Since the overall distance to cover for all participants was over two miles, stamina was the key. Despite that, Gloomy Sunday did not focus on preserving energy and pushed hard right from the start of the race.
She took the lead pretty early and did not allow anyone else to catch her, winning by a comfortable four lengths.
Following this impressive performance, the winning filly got the attention of the bookies for the Gold Cup but there is no confirmation of her participating in the mega event.
On this situation, Ferland commented, “We will see - I will talk to the owner. She is not entered for the Gold Cup.”
Gloomy Sunday has been in the sport for quite some time and her record suggests that she has got the potential to battle against the best in the business. She has appeared in a total of 13 events, winning three
of them, which clearly shows that she needs to work on improving her strike rate.
Other than her victories, she has finished as a runner up on four occasions whereas secured the third spot twice.
The French challenger has been doing a really good job this year and it will be interesting to see how well she does in the Gold Cup, if she is listed for it.
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