Gun Pit shattered his own track record at Sha Tin Racecourse tonight, Wednesday, 18 November, with a display of unquestionable class that makes a G1 Champions Cup challenge all but certain.
Chukyo Racecourse in Japan on 6 December is trainer Caspar Fownes’ desired next stop-off with Gun Pit after watching the dirt track sensation slam a high-quality field in the Class 1 Jackson Handicap (1650m). The Dubawi gelding, starting off a Hong Kong rating of 112, took his record to seven from seven on the surface.
“We’ll see how he pulls up in the next couple of days and then we’ll make a decision about whether we go forward to the race in Japan. That’s the plan,” said Fownes.
The handler, who intends to follow Japan with a Dubai campaign early next year, was delighted with Gun Pit. The five-year-old travelled smoothly mid-pack under Zac Purton before unleashing a decisive burst of acceleration of such superiority that he was two lengths clear and back on the bridle passing the winning post.
“It was very impressive today, again carrying a big weight (132lb), and breaking his record, in fact smashing it by over a second,” said Fownes following Gun Pit’s triumph in a time of 1m 36.34s.
“He’s a very exciting horse on the surface and now we’ve just got to see - we’ll look forward to bigger and better things with him. This horse is only getting there now.”
The G1 Champions Cup, formerly the G1 Japan Cup Dirt, is staged left-handed over 1800m. Gun Pit has not won beyond 1650m but his two attempts at farther, including 10th in last season’s HKG1 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), have both come on turf.
“I don’t think the distance of the Champions Cup will be a problem, he was strong to the line there,” said Fownes. “The only thing is the Japanese dirt surface is going to be a big question mark. It’s totally different to anything he’s experienced here.
“At the end of the day we have to take him and try because he’s a very good horse. The future definitely holds something like Dubai in March - that would be the target.”
Purton could not be anything but pleased with Gun Pit’s sharp performance at his first start since 1 July.
“He’s super fast,” said the rider. “I know the track was riding fast tonight, but that was really fast. I’m very happy with the way he went.”
The John Size-trained Eroico (111lb) took second, with the same trainer’s Access Years (124lb) a further two and a quarter lengths back in third.
