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Gold-Fun did Hong Kong proud in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m) on Royal Ascot’s final day (Saturday 18 June).
the seven-year-old’s determined late drive to the winning post fell a frustrating fraction short. Richard Gibson’s charge claimed a dramatic second place, a neck behind the victorious Twilight Son.
Gibson, who stated in the lead-up that Ascot’s straight, stiff, 1200m track would suit his charge, was pleased with Gold-Fun’s effort, though delight is always tempered when the spoils of victory are another’s.
“We’ve come a long way and from a professional point of view you’re always pleased when your horse runs to his rating. It was tight and all credit to the winner,” he said.
Pre-race, Gold-Fun had appeared primed for the fray – ears pricked and ever so slightly on his toes in the parade ring, jig-jogging with energetic intent. Crucially, there was no sign of the rain that had softened the ground earlier in the week and which Gibson had feared would scupper his big hope’s chances.
Gold-Fun settled a tracking fourth or fifth in the nine-runner field under Christophe Soumillon, a couple of lengths behind the pace-setting French five-year-old Signs Of Blessing. With a quarter-mile to race the contest began in earnest but Hong Kong’s challenger seemed tapped for toe as a line of horses thundered towards the finish.
“He was very lazy the whole race,” said Soumillon, “but then he finished really strongly the last 100 yards – he ran really well.”
That late surge saw the Pan Sutong-owned gelding edge tantalisingly close, sneaking second by a short-head from Signs Of Blessing but just failing to claim the trophy.
“He really did finish well,” said Gibson. “It’s not quite our day but we’re very satisfied with second place, it’s great credit to Mr. Pan for allowing us to bring him here. These are Group 1s and I never like making excuses. The horse performed very well at the greatest level of all at Royal Ascot and we’ve missed by a whisker.”
The trainer, for whom this was a first runner in a Royal Ascot G1, was quick to acknowledge the efforts of his team in preparing Gold-Fun for today’s raid. The former Hong Kong Champion Miler had been in great heart since arriving at Newmarket’s Abington Place stables a week ago.
“All credit to my team for getting the horse right – there are so many people behind me, including the vet team in Hong Kong. He’s a fantastic horse, Gold-Fun – he’s done us all proud today. These old boys are delighted to have the change of scenery and fresh air and we were always confident he was going to handle this track and he has, he’s performed really well today.”
And on future plans, Gibson added: “We have the international races to look forward to in December so we’ll head home and let him have a break then try again in December in Hong Kong.”
Twilight Son stopped the clock at 1m 13.84s on turf rated good-to-soft as he claimed a second top-flight success to complement last season’s G1 Sprint Cup (1200m) win at Haydock. The victory provided trainer Henry Candy with a third Royal Ascot success, 37 years after his second, Pipedreamer in the 1979 Royal Hunt Cup.
“We’ve been close a good few times in the past and it’s nice to get the job done finally – we’ve had to wait for it!” Candy said.
“I was thinking during the race that he was going to be third, especially when I saw Frankie Dettori (on Magical Memory) thundering down the outside. He dug deep though and the chap on top (Ryan Moore) dug deep too. I thought that if Ryan won the third race (he won the first two races but not race three), then he definitely wouldn’t win this one. It’s a wonderful day – he’s a top man, isn’t he?”
Magical Memory was a head away in fourth with Suedois a mere short-head further back as the first five flashed home within half a length of each other. That quintet drew two lengths clear of last year’s winner, the US raider Undrafted.
Gold-Fun was bidding to become the third Hong Kong-trained winner at Royal Ascot. Cape Of Good Hope won this race in 2005 and Little Bridge claimed the G1 King’s Stand Stakes in 2012.