Excellent G3 third for Caribbean Gold

Caribbean Gold ran well to finish a close third in the nine-furlong G3 Hokkaido Shimbun Hai Queen Stakes at Sapporo, Japan, on Sunday, 28 July.

The five-year-old Stay Gold mare, trained by Ippo Sameshima and ridden Yuichi Shibayama, broke from the outside stall 14 and was settled in midfield.

She was asked to improve her position with three furlongs remaining and moved up from the quarter-mile pole.

Caribbean Gold made progress to go second and have every chance inside the final furlong. She then kept on, being beaten a neck and a head by the winner Mikki Charm and runner-up Scarlet Color. The winner’s time came to 1m 47.0s on firm turf.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, commented: ““It was a very good run by Caribbean Gold to finish third in this important fillies and mares G3.

“She was beaten by two quality fillies with established and current form and she did brilliantly to get within a head and a neck of the main prize, especially having been drawn widest of the 14 runners.

“Her previous run had given some hope that she might be returning to her best form after almost two years in the doldrums and she confirmed that again today.

“As she is now a five-year-old, we had planned to retire her at the end of the year, but if she continues to improve we may need to revisit that decision.”