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Gun Pit will not board a plane for Korea this weekend after connections opted against pressing on with the dirt track star’s assault on the inaugural KOR G1 Korea Cup (1800m, sand) at Seoul racecourse on Sunday, 11 September.
The Dubawi gelding looked in good order under Olivier Doleuze as he swept to the fore in a 1200m all-weather track barrier trial at Sha Tin this morning (Wednesday, 31 August), a week on from a less than convincing trial under Zac Purton. But trainer Caspar Fownes has pulled the plug after receiving the results of a post-trial scope.
“He scoped a little bit dirty, so we’ll just concentrate on America now for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” said Fownes. “That gives me more time and I’ll be able to have him cherry ripe for that.
“He looked good in his trial today, so he’s come on from a week ago and he will strip fitter for it but I just think to go 1800m on a tough dirt track like that, I think he’s not quite there for the race in Korea - 1400 metres or a mile might have been different. The fact that he had a bit of a dirty scope means that we can’t take that chance.”
This year’s G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile is slated to take place at Santa Anita, California on Friday, 4 November, day one of the two-day Breeders’ Cup meeting. Should he take his place in the line-up, Gun Pit would become the second Hong Kong-trained horse to compete at North American racing’s premier international event. The first was Rich Tapestry in the 2014 G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“The California dirt tracks are very similar to ours, so we’ll take our chance there,” he added. “We’ll look at the programme over there but it would likely be first-up and he goes really well fresh, so he should be good.”
Gun Pit’s absence from the inaugural Korea Autumn Racing Carnival puts Hong Kong’s raiding party down to two. Super Jockey seems in good order ahead of the KOR G1 Korea Sprint (1200m, sand) but connections of fellow sprint contender Rich Tapestry will make a final decision this weekend after the veteran pulled up with slight soreness in a joint after a barrier trial at Sha Tin yesterday morning.