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Gibson looking for less Ambitious targets with stakes winner Champion

15/11/2016

By Andrew Hawkins

Stakes winner Ambitious Champion may have been one horse on the radar as a potential LONGINES Hong Kong Vase contender, but trainer Richard Gibson is just hoping his galloper can return to his best down in grade as the seven-year-old prepares for his assignment in Wednesday’s (16 November) Class 2 Japan Racing Association Trophy Handicap (1800m) at Happy Valley.

As a winner of the HKG3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (2400m) in April, Ambitious Champion was thought to be among the leading local contenders for next month’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m), a race that has had only two local winners in its history.

The last three winners of Hong Kong’s most prominent staying handicap – Dominant, Bubble Chic and Helene Happy Star – all lined up against the internationals the following December, with Dominant taking the Vase in 2013, but Gibson was quick to suggest there will be no Vase tilt this year for the son of Zed as he aims for something less ambitious. 

“I’m always keen to try and place horses where they can win,” Gibson said this morning (Tuesday, 15 November). “The Vase every year, the top European Group 1 winners come to Sha Tin and he’s not up to that standard. That’s not to say he’s suited in Class 2 either, though. He’s a bit of a victim of his own success, that’s the Hong Kong system, he has to carry a lot of weight in Class 2 and it makes life tougher for him.”

That said, Gibson is proud of what he has achieved with the horse since he first stepped foot in his yard at the start of last season, and hopes that he will be competitive at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

“He’s one of the success stories of the stable,” he said. “He’s come through the grades well and he did very well to win his Group 3 last season. We’ve seen his form is better on a softer track, that’s why we’re going to Happy Valley, a bit more give in the ground. He’ll have a shout on Wednesday for sure.”

Douglas Whyte takes over the ride from Chad Schofield, who has jumped on last-start Class 3 winner Green Dispatch.

Danny Shum-trained Green Dispatch arrived in Hong Kong with strong credentials, having finished third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m) behind New Bay and Highland Reel last year, but it wasn’t until last start that he was able to break his local maiden.

“He won a nice race the other day at Sha Tin,” Schofield said. “He now comes to Happy Valley, he’s drawn very well, he’s going to go into tomorrow night hopefully full of confidence. I’ve galloped him a few times, Monday morning on the grass down the riverside, and he feels well. Obviously, we know he’s very talented with his form back in Europe, so let’s hope after his victory the other day in a weaker class, he can now fulfill his full potential.”

Green Dispatch is another entered for the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase on 11 December, but with a local rating of 82, faces a race against time to sneak into the final field.

Another horse Schofield rode last time out was David Ferraris-trained Dynamism, who disappointed over the Sha Tin 1800m after a promising first-up effort at Happy Valley.

“He seems to run well at Happy Valley, he appreciates the good early speed that comes with the shorter run to the first bend,” Ferraris said. “He’s run very well there, he’s trialled very well there and his work couldn’t be much better than it is currently.”

Dynamism has not won since taking a Class 2 over 2000m at Sha Tin in February, 2015, a win that qualified him for that year’s BMW Hong Kong Derby, won by Luger. However, he has been in the runner-up’s stall four times across three seasons, with Ferraris lamenting injury problems that kept him on the sidelines for much of last season.

“He had a chondroma – which is a growth on his bone – above his knee, which they removed uneventfully,” he said. “He’s recovered very well and he’s subsequently run some decent races. It took him a while to find his form, but he found it towards the end of last season, he was good first-up and I’m expecting a big run from him tomorrow.”

Karis Teetan takes the ride on the striking chestnut in the night’s feature, which is set to jump as the seventh of eight races at 10.15pm.

Pin hoping to make official breakthrough under Purton

Earlier in the night, John Size-trained D B Pin will return to Happy Valley in the Class 4 Fukushima Handicap (1000m) for what is technically his first run of the season – on paper, at least.

D B Pin was a four-length winner of the “void race” on 26 October, when all gates did not open simultaneously.

Five horses out of that race are declared to run in the Class 4 contest, with the first three across the line – D B Pin, Lucky Seven and Isaac – leading the charge. However, jockey Zac Purton, who rode D B Pin last month and will do so again tomorrow night, believes the four-year-old’s effort in late October should be treated like a barrier trial.

“It’s hard to say how well he did in that race, because it wasn’t a properly run race,” Purton said. “The field was skittled and the majority didn’t take part. I suppose it was just like a barrier trial. I guess, taking it as a barrier trial, he’s going in off an impressive trial, but the make-up of this race is going to be a little bit different. There’s quite a number of fast horses in this race and some of them are drawn inside me so it’s not going to be easy, like any race here in Hong Kong. Hopefully we can get a nice run and he can produce again.”

The Australian rider partnered D B Pin last season and said it was race experience that was allowing the son of Darci Brahma to show his talent now.

“He hasn’t improved dramatically in the off-season,” he said. “He’s obviously got a little bit stronger, he did seem to hit the line a bit better in the void race and he’s a bit more street-smart now as well with a couple of starts under him. Like every horse in Hong Kong, though, once they get in the ring and have a few rounds, they seem to improve quite quickly and pick things up. He’s just another example of that.”

The first race at Happy Valley, the Class 5 Kokura Handicap (1200m), jumps at 7.15pm, with the night’s closer, the Class 3 Hanshin Handicap (1200m), scheduled for 10.50pm.

Ambitious Champion lands a stylish win in the HKG3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup last season.
Photo 1:
Ambitious Champion lands a stylish win in the HKG3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup last season.

 

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