Gold Town ‘deserves’ to be supplemented to Kentucky Derby
J A McGrath
19 February, 2018
One performance stood out above all others on the global scene over the past few days — and the full impact of that victory at Meydan last Thursday may yet to be felt.
Godolphin’s Gold Town galloped away with the G3 UAE 2000 Guineas with such authority that most were looking beyond the G2 UAE Derby on Saturday, 31 March and thinking already of the ‘Run For The Roses’ at Churchill Downs on Saturday, 5 May.
Connections of the gelded son of Street Cry were no exception, with trainer Charlie Appleby revealing that an ambitious program has been mapped out, subject to the three-year-old continuing in his present sparkling form.
“I have discussed it with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, who believes Gold Town deserves a supplementary entry to the G1 Kentucky Derby,” Appleby reported.
“Like everybody else, His Highness was impressed by what Gold Town was able to achieve in the UAE 2000 Guineas. He was visually impressive, winning by 10 and a half lengths, and that was backed up by the clock,” he pointed out.
The gelding ran the 1,600m on dirt in 1min 37.77secs, having worked to hold his position early before applying pressure to his rivals turning into the straight. He then drew away, crushing the opposition in an emphatic display.
“He has come out of the race very well,” Appleby said. “He’s very straightforward to train, and he has already proved he can handle long-distance travel. He’s got a good brain, and a good temperament,” he added.
“We will run him next in the UAE Derby, and if that goes well, we will press on to Kentucky. He will be supplemented this week,” he pointed out.
The two other international points of interest at the weekend focused on Melbourne and Hong Kong.
Redkirk Warrior, trained in Victoria by Hayes, Hayes and Dabernig, caused an upset in the G1 Lightning Stakes, coming from last after being held up in behind a wall of horses at the 200-metre mark.
The son of Notnowcato, who had previously raced in Britain and Hong Kong, got up right on the line to defeat Redzel, who had looked all set for victory.
Redkirk Warrior left Hong Kong because of foot trouble, which he has now clearly conquered in the Australian environment.
In Hong Kong, the Tony Millard-trained Singapore Sling took the Listed Classic Cup, in which fancied Nothingilikemore flopped. The run to take out of the race was that of runner-up Exultant, who shaped like a Derby horse with his powerful finish.
