Gold-Fun lands maiden Group 1 success in Hong Kong Classic Mile
Gold-Fun landed his maiden Group 1 victory by claiming the Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha tin on Sunday, January 20, 2013.
He was given a tough time by some of the other contestants, but refused to give up and succeeded by a neck distance in the end. He pressed hard from the start until the end and did not choke under pressure.
This was his second overall out of just three competitions. Le Vie Dei Colori’s son only failed once to claim the top spot and that was his first ever appearance back in August 2011. He was not rated as the favourite to succeed in that event and finished
as a runner up.
Although his team would have wanted a better result, his performance was more than satisfactory. He trained hard afterward and bounced back with a couple of strong results, which will definitely boost his confidence.
Gold-Fun’s trainer, Richard Gibson, was absolutely delighted with the outcome of the race and aimed at achieving more in the future. He is relatively new to the sport and is trying to make a mark amongst some of the very best trainers in the sport.
“It's a huge moment in my career,” said Gibson, who twice won the Hong Kong Vase with Doctor Dino when based in France. We have won a Group 1 with an improving horse and he can only get better. I think he will be better over a longer distance as well.”
On the other hand, Douglas Whyte, who rode Gold-Fun to success, was also happy with the performance of his stallion. He claimed that things were not easy at all, as there were a few runners ahead of him at one point in the 1 mile race. However, he pressed
hard to beat them in the end.
According to Whyte, “He's got a phenomenal turn of foot and what I really liked about him today is he dug down. His effort was for the full length of the straight, which you don't find often, so he was tough. It wasn't a big margin, but that doesn't matter,
he still came home first.”
Tags: